Have you no decency, Sen. Cruz?
Congress’ certification of the Electoral College votes is the last step of the presidential election process, required by the Constitution, before the oath of office is taken Jan. 20. It is a routine and humdrum procedure rarely paid any attention even by the most politically engaged citizens because, by then, any debate about who won in November has been stilled by bipartisan acceptance of the results.
But not in 2021. Today’s certification won’t be routine because of the decisions by a number of Republican members of the House and Senate to placate President Donald Trump and join him in challenging the result of an election that he lost by more than 7 million votes. This refusal to acknowledge reality and the will of the American electorate is disgraceful and disturbing, and will undermine confidence in our elections.
For a couple of days last week, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley had the limelight to himself when he announced he wouldn’t vote to certify the Electoral College results. But Saturday, 11 additional senators or senators-elect, led by Texas junior Sen. Ted Cruz, signed a letter stating they’d also vote against certification and demanding an emergency 10-day audit of election results. Like Hawley and the House Republicans who won’t vote to certify, they will only challenge votes in states won by Biden, states whose African American voters put him over the top. The letter is a masterpiece of hypocrisy, specious arguments and stunning lack of self-awareness. Its second paragraph reads: “When the voters fairly decide an election, pursuant to the rule of law, the losing candidate should acknowledge and respect the legitimacy of that election. And, if the voters choose to elect a new office-holder, our Nation should have a peaceful transfer of power.”
The letter itself undercuts this principle. The voters have done their part, but the losing candidate, Trump, and the signers of this missive are not acknowledging the legitimacy of the election and are standing in the way of a peaceful transfer of power. Then there are these gems:
“The 2020 election, however, featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.
“Voter fraud has posed a persistent challenge in our elections, although its breadth and scope are disputed. By any measure, the allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes.”
The “unprecedented allegations” of voter fraud were falsely started by Trump, repeated by Trump, and echoed by his media and political allies for months before the election and since. The allegations exceed “any in our lifetimes” because we’ve never had a president in our lifetimes, or the lifetime of our nation, so brazenly, prolifically and recklessly lie about something that did not happen. Cruz offered to carry these lies into the Supreme Court on behalf of Trump. It was a hollow offer since there was little chance that would ever happen. Whatever one thinks of Cruz, he is neither dumb nor misinformed. But he is calculating and cynical. The question with Cruz is one of character and integrity, as he advocates disenfranchising millions of voters. Is this really about voter fraud or what’s best for Cruz come 2024?
It’s not as if Cruz doesn’t have experience being accused by Trump of rigging an election. After Cruz won the 2016 Iowa caucus, Trump claimed it was stolen from him and Cruz committed voter fraud. Yet Cruz stands with Trump today. The man who, in 2016, mocked Cruz’s wife and accused his father of being in on JFK’S assassination. The man Cruz called a “pathological liar,” “utterly amoral” and “a narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen.”
On the same day Cruz and company announced they wouldn’t certify the Electoral College votes in some states, Trump was begging and threatening Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” the votes needed to reverse Biden’s victory there.
This is what Cruz believes in? Senator, have you no decency?