January 7, 2026

In past years, I have written on Jan. 6 to commemorate the tragedy of that day. This year, I chose not to. It is not that I have forgotten the events or that their importance has diminished. Rather, there were many other topics to cover, and I felt I had nothing new to add to what has already been said by countless others.

Also, to be perfectly honest, I am tired. Tired of sounding the alarm every day about election denialism. Tired of warning about the risks to free and fair elections. But mostly, I am tired of feeling like people don’t want to hear it — either because they think I am worrying too much or because it is simply too much to process.

In retrospect, I realize I made a mistake.

When I started Democracy Docket in 2020, I made a promise to you that I would provide information and analysis about what is happening to democracy. I promised to use my voice and my platform to raise concerns and offer solutions.

Feeling tired is not a reason to stand down. It is a reason to stand up — especially on the anniversary of Jan. 6.

So, I woke up today resolved to correct my error.

For the last five years, Donald Trump has ceaselessly spread lies about the 2020 election and its aftermath. No matter what else is going on, he always finds a way to weave in false claims about his defeat. He mentions it in speeches on unrelated topics, raises it with foreign leaders, and even references it while explaining his proposed invasion of Venezuela.

There is no question that these lies are absurd and worthy of mockery. Donald Trump lost the election. President Joe Biden won the election. It is that simple. It is not a matter of opinion. It is not nuanced. It is black and white — right and wrong.

For many of us, the self-evident truth of the 2020 election can make it feel like we have nothing new to say. It makes us tired of having the same argument over and over again.

Yet history has taught us that when those who know the truth fail to speak out, it empowers those who relentlessly lie. So here is the truth:

Donald Trump lost the 2020 election by a wide margin. Joe Biden received more than 7 million more votes than Trump. Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. He swept all of the swing states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

After the election, Donald Trump and his allies filed more than 60 lawsuits seeking to overturn the results. All but one minor case — which had no impact on the outcome — failed.

Some of these cases were dismissed as frivolous, and the lawyers who brought them were sanctioned. Others were dismissed for jurisdictional reasons, such as lack of standing or filing in the wrong court. Still others were considered on the merits and rejected.

Elected and appointed state judges all ruled against him. Federal judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents — including by Trump — rejected his claims.

In addition to litigation, Trump sought and obtained full or partial recounts in several states. In Georgia, the state conducted both a full hand recount and a full machine recount. Both affirmed Biden’s victory.

One of the final court challenges was filed by the state of Texas, which sought to invalidate the election results in four other states. A conservative Supreme Court rejected the petition to hear the case.

Left with no other options, Trump attempted to persuade the Department of Justice to intervene. When that failed, he instigated a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That date was not coincidental — it was the date set by law for Congress to meet and certify the Electoral College results.

Donald Trump was subsequently impeached by the House for his misconduct — though Republicans in the Senate blocked a conviction. He was subsequently indicted in state court in Georgia and in federal court in Washington, D.C., for his role in attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 election.

Both cases were ultimately dismissed for procedural reasons. Jack Smith, the special counsel who obtained the federal indictment, recently testified under oath that he believes the evidence of Trump’s guilt met the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

I do not offer these facts from a distance. These are not things I read about or learned secondhand. I lived them. My legal team and I represented Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in opposing the vast majority of the cases filed by Trump and his allies. We handled the recounts. We fought the election contests.

When Donald Trump’s White House posted lies on its website yesterday, claiming that the 2020 election was “marred by massive mail-in ballot fraud, hidden suitcases of ballots, exploding water pipes, voting machine irregularities, and unprecedented pandemic-era rule changes that bypassed state legislatures,” it repeated lies that judges of both parties rejected in cases I personally litigated.

When it claimed that Congress certified a “fraud-ridden election” and ignored “widespread irregularities,” it impugned the integrity of election officials, judges and lawyers like me who fought to protect free and fair elections.

I write as someone who fights every day for democracy. I write as someone deeply concerned about its future. I write as someone who has been viciously attacked for my role in the 2020 election and for continuing to speak out.

But most of all, I write as someone who witnessed many of these events firsthand and owes it to all of you to bear witness to the truth.

I am only sorry that I am a day late.