Last week we called for the resignation of Anita Sharpe, a Guilford County School Board member who shared dangerous — and provably false — conspiracy theories on her social media channels.

Now we’re coming for those in North Carolina who, despite an astonishing lack of evidence and an honest-to-god insurrection, are still clinging to the Big Lie: that Trump won the 2020 election, and everything that happened after was not his fault.

Even after they fled from violent reactionaries, seven House members from North Carolina still voted to support objections to the electoral vote. Each must resign to retain even the smallest shred of their integrity. Two are from our area.

Rep. Ted Budd’s new 13th Congressional District covers Davidson and Randolph counties,. He may have thought his rural base would appreciate the aid and comfort he gave to our domestic enemies, and maybe they did. But Budd attempted to nullify votes from Pennsylvania and Arizona that he knew to be legally cast, interfering with the electoral process in a manner intended to subvert democracy. This is also known as treason.

Rep. Virginia Foxx has relied on knee-jerk conservatism since 2004 when she began serving in the foothills to the west of Winston-Salem, now in District 5. She fit right in with the Trump crowd, and signed on to the Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn Pennsylvania’s electoral results in December. She continued her endorsement of the Big Lie even after insurrectionists stormed the halls of the Capitol by upholding an objection to Pennsylvania’s electors. With such a cavalier attitude towards the US Constitution, she cannot be trusted with the reins of power.

Add to the list reps Dan Bishop, Richard Hudson, Gregory Murphy and David Rouzer, all of whom voted to nullify the will of the people of Pennsylvania on Jan. 6. They must resign.

And then there’s Rep. Madison Cawthorn, whose mendacity has been on full display since the first days of his campaign when he paid a visit to Adolf Hitler’s vacation home. Since then, we have learned that he lied about his acceptance to the US Naval Academy, and also his status as a Paralympic athlete — both false. We know, though, that he voted to overturn Americans’ legal votes on Jan. 6. He must also resign.

Yes, they all must go.

Their crimes against the Constitution are out there for anyone with a calendar and an internet connection to see. But what they are most guilty of is acting in bad faith: espousing views they know to be false for personal and political gain, deliberately misunderstanding the rules of the game, ignoring factual information that cracks their lies wide open.

And they’ve gotten away with it for too long.

After violent insurrectionists stormed our capitol to disrupt the electoral process, to kidnap and “try” members of Congress and the Senate, to smear literal shit on the walls and to kill Mike Pence, everything changed.

The Big Lie is over. And so is everyone who helped perpetuate it.

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