Rep. Kevin McCarthy needs to lead us, use influence to restore common reality
On Jan. 6, while the Capitol building was under siege, our Congressman Kevin McCarthy gave an impassioned interview to CBS News. He condemned the protesters, declared the incident “un-American,” and urged the president to send them home.
During the interview, we could hear the seriousness in his voice — he was shaken, like all of us were, as our democratic institutions were under attack. Six hours later, when the risk to his personal safety was over, McCarthy and 138 other House Republicans voted to object to the Electoral College certification. They bantered about wild conspiracy theories about fraud, and fanned exactly the same misinformation that brought those protesters to the nation’s capital in the first place.
If McCarthy has evidence of fraud, he has not shared it with us. In fact, every single one of the allegations made by Republicans on Jan. 6 have been debunked and rejected by every court in the land — by Republican, Democrat and Trump-appointed judges. Each case has died for lack of evidence. Unlike television or social media, when attorneys make claims in a court of law, they are under oath. There are serious consequences for misleading and exaggerating claims in front of an actual judge.
On election night, our congressman said on Fox News that Donald Trump was the rightful winner of the election, and that people should “rise up.” On Dec. 11, he joined 125 other House Republicans in the Texas lawsuit attempting to overturn the election, based again, on spurious claims. But the vote on Jan. 6 deserves special attention, as a faction of Republican congressmen tried to overturn duly certified state elections. Mercifully, this gambit failed. But Pandora’s box is now open: It would give Congress the power to throw out any election, anywhere in the country, based on purely partisan reasons. These congressmen sought to impose their will over the voters of Arizona and Pennsylvania and other swing states under the pretext of some secret knowledge of “fraud.”
The protesters in the Capitol, and here in the Antelope Valley on Jan. 6, believe that there was widespread fraud throughout the country. Let us be clear: That is not true, but we can accept that they believe it with all sincerity. Are Republicans repeating it now because they believe it themselves, or do they repeat it despite knowing it to be false? After watching the Senate debate following the riot on Jan. 6, it is clear that Republicans and Democrats alike rejected these conspiracy theories in the upper chamber. Do House Republicans lack the same critical thinking skills? With the same resources and staff available as their Senate counterparts, they cannot possibly believe what they are saying.
By repeating these allegations of fraud, some Republicans continue to give rise to the fantasy of the stolen election. By voting to object to the Electoral College on Jan. 6, 139 House Republicans gave legitimacy to the very conspiracy theories that launched the raid on the Capitol building in the first place. The protesters are wrong for breaking in, but two-thirds of House Republicans are recklessly baiting their paranoia. Meanwhile, five people have died, and roughly 40 percent of our countrymen are actually calling for less democracy. Like Mitt Romney said during Senate debate, if Republicans actually respected their voters, they would tell them the truth about voter fraud: there was none.
The election may have ended badly, but it was ultimately secure. Despite everything that happened on Jan. 6, McCarthy mobilized 138 House Republicans to keep the fantasy going. They bear responsibility for the consequences. But McCarthy, above all others, represents us and our values in the high desert. He must use his influence to restore a common reality and shared set of facts, in which all of us can respectfully and peacefully resolve our grievances through the institutions of democracy.