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For Immediate Release
November, 08 2020, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Ryan Thomas
ryan@standupamerica.com
(763) 954-0470
WASHINGTON
After Colorado voters passed a ballot measure to remain in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a nationwide effort to ensure that the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in the nation as a whole becomes president, Stand Up America Founder and President Sean Eldridge released the following statement:
"For far too long, the United States has failed to live up the ideal that one person equals one vote because of arcane institutions like the Electoral College. Last week, we saw just how broken, outdated, and racist that system of electing a president is.
"In every other election, the candidate who gets the most votes wins. But our nation spent a stressful four days wondering who our next president would be, despite the clear fact that Joe Biden won the popular vote by millions--and with good reason. In the last twenty years, two out of three U.S. presidents were elected in spite of losing the national popular vote.
"It's far past time that we abolish this system and affirm that every single vote should matter equally when electing our president. In passing Proposition 113, Colorado voters helped the entire country move closer to ensuring that every vote counts equally in every state and every election.
"In the coming months and years, Stand Up America is committed to helping pass the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact in more states to ensure that the Electoral College never subverts the will of the American people again."
Early this year, Stand Up America began organizing in Colorado in support of Proposition 113 and National Popular Vote, using an innovative peer-to-peer SMS texting program powered by over 8,000 remote volunteers to encourage over a quarter of a million Coloradans to vote yes on the measure. Stand Up America also worked to educate its community of tens of thousands of Coloradans about Proposition 113, urging them to vote yes and send letters to the editors of local papers in support of the measure.
If you would like to speak with a Stand Up America spokesperson about the National Popular Vote movement, please email Ryan Thomas at ryan@standupameria.com.
Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to strengthen our democracy and oppose Trump's corrupt agenda, Stand Up America has driven over 600,000 phone calls to Congress and mobilized tens of thousands of protestors across the country.
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"Matt Gaetz was a ridiculous, horrible, and dangerous AG selection," said the co-president of Public Citizen.
Nov 21, 2024
This is a developing news story... Please check back for possible updates...
Former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz on Thursday withdrew from consideration to lead the U.S. Justice Department under the incoming Trump administration, saying in a social media post that his "confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction."
Gaetz, who lasted just a week as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general pick, didn't mention that his nomination was facing close scrutiny due to allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old and violated federal sex trafficking laws.
Gaetz's abrupt resignation from Congress last week effectively ended a yearslong House Ethics Committee probe into the allegations. On Wednesday, GOP-controlled panel voted against releasing the findings of the investigation.
"There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general," Gaetz wrote Thursday. "I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America."
Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration as CNNreported that "the woman who says she had sex when she was a minor with then-Rep. Matt Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee she had two sexual encounters with him at one party in 2017."
The outlet noted that Gaetz announced his withdrawal "after being asked for comment for this story."
Additionally, The New York Timesreported Wednesday that "Federal investigators have established a web of payments among Matt Gaetz and dozens of friends and associates who are said to have taken part with him in drug-fueled sex parties."
"Among those who received money from Mr. Gaetz were two women who have testified that he hired them for sex," the newspaper reported, citing a lawyer for the two women. "The lawyer said payments to the women ultimately totaled around $10,000. The document obtained by the Times was assembled by federal investigators during a sex-trafficking investigation into Mr. Gaetz."
Robert Weissman, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, said in a statement Thursday that "Matt Gaetz was a ridiculous, horrible, and dangerous AG selection."
"That Republican senators were not willing to rubber-stamp his nomination is a hopeful sign that a modicum of sanity persists in Washington," said Weissman. "But Gaetz was not the only Trump nomination threatening America and there's every reason to worry about who Trump will appoint in Gaetz's stead. The Senate must insist on its constitutional duty to advise and consent on Cabinet and top-level nominations and block nominations that endanger democracy, the rule of law, consumer and worker protection, environmental sustainability, and more."
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