The president is lying about the election. Thom Tillis and Republicans need to say so

Let’s try one more time:

Early Thursday evening, President Donald Trump stood before the White House press corps, as well as cameras broadcasting to the nation, and delivered the most dangerous remarks of his presidency. He said states were “finding ballots” in an effort to steal the election from him. He said: “If you count the legal votes, I win.”

He also said of our state: “We were ahead in votes in North Carolina by a lot, a tremendous number of votes, and we’re still ahead by a lot, but not as many because they’re finding ballots all of a sudden.”

None of this is true. The President of the United States is, without evidence, trying to undermine a legitimate election. It is a perilous moment for our country.

Republicans leaders in Washington, however, appear not to be alarmed. With the notable exceptions of Republican Sen. Mitt Romney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — who this week called Trump’s election claims “very dangerous for the democracy” — GOP members of Congress have largely been quiet. Those who did speak up mostly delivered mousy statements that called for “legal” votes to be counted but didn’t mention the president’s remarks.

So let’s try again. This board has regularly called on North Carolina’s Republican leaders to stand up to the worst of Donald Trump. Now, each one needs to firmly denounce the president’s election falsehoods. That’s especially true of our U.S. senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, whose voices would be the most impactful.

We admit we’re not hopeful, especially about Sen. Tillis, who time and again has declined opportunities to stand up to the president and speak up for the people he’s supposed to serve. Tillis, who spent a lot of the last month talking about honor and country when it came to his opponent, showed little of it himself Thursday. A relentless tweeter when his job was on the line, Tillis stopped typing when something larger was at stake, instead having a spokesperson timidly tell a Charlotte TV reporter: “As he has said before, Senator Tillis has confidence in the absentee ballot process. He believes every legal vote should be counted, and that when they are, both he and President Trump will carry North Carolina.”

One N.C. Republican did speak up, but that was NC-09 Rep. Dan Bishop, who shamefully parroted the president’s falsehoods. “Trump’s points are persuasive: concerted use of fraudulent polls; stunning and implausible ballot dumps overnight; observers barred. Fight!” Bishop tweeted.

Here’s why it matters: The president’s remarks this week weren’t merely the final squeaks from a shrinking balloon. They may be laying the foundation for an attempt to stay in office despite Joe Biden winning the Electoral College vote. Trump’s surrogates have called for a do-over election in Pennsylvania and urged Republicans there to override the results. His son, Donald Jr., urged the president to wage “total war over the election.” It should no longer be inconceivable to anyone that Trump might attempt to use bogus claims of fraud and shunned poll observers to nullify his defeat.

Those claims also risk inciting violence. Election officials across the country have fretted about the safety of vote counters as armed Trump supporters stood outside election centers, and late Thursday, Philadelphia police took two heavily armed men into custody outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where votes were being counted. Police said they were notified of a threat of an attack.

North Carolinians should let GOP leadership know how alarmed they are by the president’s ranting. Donald Trump has defiled and denigrated cherished traditions and institutions throughout his presidency, but nothing strikes at the heart of America like the president questioning the integrity of legally cast votes. Republicans in Washington need to stand up to this attack on the election — and on our country.

This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 11:00 AM.