One month ago, hundreds of rioters stormed the Capitol building. Minutes earlier, then-President Donald Trump had urged his supporters to march on the Capitol; specifically, he told them “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Weeks before that, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their victory. He acknowledged, correctly, that the presidential election had been fairly won. In the wider Republican electorate, however, misinformation campaigns conducted online and through traditional media channels had prompted Donald Trump’s supporters to internalize a false narrative of election fraud.

This false narrative, and the misguided outrage it sparked, allowed radicalized groups to force entry into the United States Capitol on Jan. 6. Supporters of QAnon, the Proud Boys, and the Boogaloo Boys joined a mob that allegedly declared its intent to hang the Vice President, Mike Pence, and murder the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. The violent throng, many members of whom wore "Blue Lives Matter" apparel, assaulted several police officers and killed USCP Officer Brian D. Sicknick. For the first time in history, an insurrectionist carried a confederate flag into the Capitol building.

The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the freedom of the press, as our Founding Fathers realized that a free country could not function without an informed public. Using the protection of free speech and the guise of journalism in order to deliberately misinform the public not only runs counter to the Founding Fathers’ intentions but also represents a gross perversion of them. While it was no surprise to see falsehoods spewed by Donald Trump — who had previously gained notoriety for publicly supporting the false assertion that Barack Obama was born in Kenya — the First Amendment does not render these falsehoods immune to criticism or refutation; nor does it require private entities to provide them a platform.

We at Concord-Bethel Democrats condemn the blight of misinformation that has poisoned public discourse, and the radicalized alt-right groups it motivates. We denounce the violence at the Capitol and recognize it for what it was: a coup attempt spurred by Donald Trump, who has thoroughly earned his historic infamy as the only twice-impeached President. We wholeheartedly advocate that he be convicted and barred from holding public office in the future. And although more authoritative organizations than ours have already done so, we declare publicly and unequivocally that the 2020 presidential election was fairly won by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Joe Campisano, Chair
Concord-Bethel Democratic Committee