WASHINGTON: A increasing number of Republican senators are supporting the unprecedented campaign of President Donald Trump to reverse the victory, threatening to deny the outcome as Congress gathers next week to count the votes of the Electoral College and certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
On Saturday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz announced a group of 11 senators and elected senators who were enlisted in Trump’s attempt to subvert the will of American voters.
This follows the announcement of Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who was the first to defy the leadership of the Senate by saying that during the joint session of Congress on Wednesday, he would join with House Republicans in objecting to state talks.
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Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat is tearing the party apart as Republicans are forced to make consequential choices that will set the contours of the post-Trump era. Hawley and Cruz are both among potential 2024 presidential contenders.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had urged his party not to try to overturn what nonpartisan election officials have concluded was a free and fair vote.
The 11 senators largely acknowledged they will not succeed in preventing Biden from being inaugurated on Jan 20 after he won the Electoral College 306-232. But their challenges, and those from House Republicans, represent the most sweeping effort to undo a presidential election outcome since the Civil War.
We do not take this action lightly, Cruz and the other senators said in a joint statement.
On Wednesday, they threatened to vote against those state electors until Congress appoints an electoral commission to perform an investigation of the election results immediately. They zero in on the states where false charges of voting fraud have been posed by Trump. It is doubtful that Congress will consent to their demand.
Including Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Mike Braun of Indiana, and Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, the party offered no new evidence of electoral challenges.
The transition spokesperson for Biden, Mike Gwin, dismissed the initiative as a stunt that would not change the fact that on Jan 20, Biden will be sworn in.
Trump, the first president to lose a reelection campaign in almost 30 years, blamed his loss to systematic voter fraud, ignoring the agreement of non-partisan election authorities and even Trump’s attorney general that none exists. Of the approximately 50 cases that the president and his supporters have filed, virtually half have been rejected or abandoned. At the US Supreme Court, Hes lost twice, too.
It is predicted that the days ahead will do nothing to modify the result.
The transition spokesperson for Biden, Mike Gwin, dismissed the initiative as a stunt that would not change the fact that on Jan 20, Biden will be sworn in.
Trump, the first president to lose a reelection campaign in almost 30 years, blamed his loss to systematic voter fraud, ignoring the agreement of non-partisan election authorities and even Trump’s attorney general that none exists. Of the approximately 50 cases that the president and his supporters have filed, virtually half have been rejected or abandoned. At the US Supreme Court, Hes lost twice, too.
It is predicted that the days ahead will do nothing to modify the result.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Electoral College count supervising team. The Republican attempt to build a federal commission to supersede state certifications is incorrect, he said.
It’s undemocratic here. They’re un-American. And it would, luckily, be ineffective. In the end, democracy, she said in a tweet, will prevail.
It is normally customary to convene the joint session to count the votes from the Electoral College. Although objections have arisen before in 2017, few have exceeded this degree of strength through many House Democrats questioning Trump’s victory.
In the other side of the Republican spectrum, several senators came out about the efforts of Cruz and Hawley on Saturday.
In a tweet, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she would vote to affirm the result and encouraged colleagues in both parties to join her in retaining “confidence in elections” to ensure that we have the American people’s continued trust.
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey said the right of the people to elect their own government is a basic, distinguishing trait of a democratic republic. He said the move by Hawley, Cruz and others in swing states including Pennsylvania to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election explicitly threatens this right.
Earlier this week, another potential candidate for 2024, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, urged his peers to oppose this risky ploy, which he said challenges the democratic norms of nations.
Vice President Mike Pence, who is under the criticism from Trump’s supporters over his symbolic role in chairing the Wednesday conference, is stuck in the centre. In a tweet, his chief of staff, Marc Short, said Pence supports the attempts of House and Senate lawmakers to use the powers they have under the constitution to raise objections.
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Several Republicans have suggested that they are under pressure from voters back home to prove that in his baseless bid to remain in office, they are battling for Trump
The second-ranking Republican, Sen. John Thune, told reporters at the Capitol that the leadership allowed senators to vote on their conscience. Thunes argues that the GOP whip in charge of rounding up votes indicates that the Republican leadership is not throwing its weight behind the demands of Trump, rather encouraging senators to chose their course.
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