Mississippi has a terrible, racist, and conservative legacy. We all know that, and many people in our state hate it. We hate being seen as dumb, racist rednecks, but we can’t shake that legacy as long as our congresspeople continue to embarrass us.

Specifically, representatives Steven Palazzo, Trent Kelly and Michael Guest, as well as Senator Cindy-Hyde Smith all failed us this week when they refused to certify Biden’s electoral victory in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Let’s be honest. We all know that Joe Biden won the election. Quite simply, all of the claims made by the people who think the election was rigged are bogus. 

For instance, Rep. Steven Palazzo said on Instagram that he cannot stand by while “Mississippi is disenfranchised and states knowingly violated their constitution.”

That just doesn’t make sense. Mississippi voted for Trump, and our votes went to Trump. However, the citizens of Pennsylvania and Arizona voted for Biden, so why shouldn’t their votes go to him? It sounds like he wants other states to be disenfranchised simply because they didn’t support the same people he did.

All the claims of election fraud have been disproven. 

No, thousands of dead people did not vote. No, there was no ballot-stuffing. There has been no factual evidence of the claims peddled by people who think Trump won the election. 

Yet, our representatives still think the election was rigged. Their lies fell right in tune with Trump’s rhetoric, and we all know what that led to: the Capitol riot. 

When did the riot take place? The day Congress was attempting to certify Biden’s victory. However, these rioters that even killed a police officer did not believe Biden won. They rioted to stop the certification of Biden’s victory. 

Why? Because idiots like Steven Palazzo and Cindy-Hyde Smith and even President Donald Trump all lied to them repeatedly. To put it plain and simple, our state’s legislators contributed to this riot by supporting the president’s false claims, and they are to blame.

Fortunately, they do not represent all Mississippians. But, when people turn on their TVs to the news and see that only six senators voted against Biden’s electoral victory, they will see that one of them is from Mississippi.

That is exactly why our stereotypes persist. When people who literally encouraged rioting against a fair election are representing our state, people will continue thinking we are dumb, continue viewing us all as racist, and continue looking down on our state. 

Our state cannot keep voting for people that cannot even accept basic facts. I am ashamed and embarrassed of our representatives that contributed to this violence and stupidity. 

It’s time to do better, Mississippi.