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Richard Burr is one of our two current senators and a former member of the House of Representatives from North Carolina. He belongs to the Republican Party on a national level and the North Carolina GOP, which has firmly supported him until recently. Burr was one of seven Republicans to join Democrats in the voting to convict Donald J. Trump for inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6. This came as a shock to many Republicans, as Burr had once stated that he wanted to dismiss the case “due to constitutionality.”
Within two days of voting to convict Trump, the North Carolina GOP unanimously voted to censure Burr. The North Carolina GOP stated that they were censoring Burr over his vote that he once stated was unconstitutional. Burr responded to his censoring on behalf of the GOP, saying that it was a “sad day for Republicans.” While Burr joining the Democrats in holding Trump accountable does not make him a saint, it shows that he is one of a few Senate Republicans willing to vote based on law and responsibility when absolutely necessary. However, the North Carolina GOP is now calling to cancel Burr because of his vote across party lines.
I will agree that Burr needs to be “canceled,” but not because of his vote to convict Donald Trump. In fact, that may be one of the few things that barely meets the line of morally acceptable. Burr should have been “canceled” a long time ago when he voted to ban abortions after 20 weeks, or when he voted to stop funding in sanctuary cities. How about when he supported the appointment of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh? And that’s just some of the stuff he has done in the past two years.
There are several hypocritical issues with trying to “cancel” Burr simply for voting to convict Donald Trump. First off, for a political party to punish a member for voting against party lines is entirely unethical. By censoring a member of Congress for voting, it is practically admitting that the political party believes that the individual only serves a purpose to vote on party lines. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one in the student body who believes that members of Congress are supposed to use their best judgement and vote for the citizens they represent, not for multibillion-dollar institutions and partisan lobbyists.
Secondly, isn’t cancel culture Republicans’ biggest tiff with Democrats? Even though most conservatives see cancel culture as unethical, conservatives in Congress are now calling to “cancel” Burr for logically voting to impeach Donald Trump. Clearly, this opinion is very situational. The topic of cancel culture is often demonized as the problem, rather than the horrendous, immoral acts of discrimination and violence made by individuals. If anything, it shows a lack of moral set when it comes to non-cis, white issues, as BIPOC and queer people are not afforded this same forgiveness.
There is no praise for the seven Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to convict Donald Trump, especially Richard Burr. Voting against a man who incited a deadly attack on the government and tried to overturn an election while trying to manipulate elected officials is beyond common sense. But it is indeed still a crime to have been silent for the four years of Trump’s heinous administration. While history does not tell the majority truth and often leaves out the most important parts, it will indeed be interesting to see how this narrative will be portrayed in the future.