Push to undo vote drives GOP split
Some Republicans warn of damage to US by fraud claims
WASHINGTON — With seeming mounting desperation, President Donald Trump called on Republican lawmakers Monday to reverse his election loss to Joe Biden when Congress convenes for a joint session this week to confirm the Electoral College vote.
Trump’s attempt to overturn the presidential election is splitting the Republican Party. Some GOP lawmakers backing Trump are rushing ahead, despite an outpouring of condemnation from current and former GOP officials warning the effort is undermining Americans’ faith in democracy. All 10 living former defense secretaries wrote in an op- ed article that “the time for questioning the results has passed.”
It’s unclear the extent to which GOP leaders in Congress will be able to control Wednesday’ s joint session, which could drag into the night. Trump himself is whipping up crowds for a Wednesday rally near the White House.
Trump’s allies are taking up his unfounded claims of voter fraud. But according to a consensus of election officials in the states he’s disputing — as well his former Attorney General William Barr — there is no evidence of fraud that could change the election outcome. Officials who have control over elections in their states, including the Arizona and Georgia battlegrounds that
Biden won, have certified those results as accurate and valid.
Of the more than 50 lawsuits the president and his allies have filed challenging results, nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. He’s also lost twice at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The effort to keep Trump in officeis being led by Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, along with rank- and- file House members, some on the party’s fringe.
“Just got off the phone with@ real Donald Trump,” tweeted newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, whois aligned with the QA non conspiracy group backing Trump.
“Hewants you to call your Rep & Senators TODAY, ALL DAY!” she tweeted Monday. “Don’t let Republicans be the Surrender Caucus!”
Hawley and Cruz are potential 2024 presidential contenders, vying for Trump’s base of supporters. Vice President Mike Pence, who is under pressure to tip the results for Trump, will be closely watched as he presides in a ceremonial role over Wednesday’s joint session.
On Monday, more current and former GOP officials rebuked the effort to upend the election.
Former Sen. John
Danforth of Missouri offered sharp criticism of the attempt by Hawley and the others, an especially stinging statement since Danforth has long been a supporter of Hawley.
“Lending credence to Trump’s false claim that the election was stolen is a highly destructive attack,” Danforth, the 84- year- old three- term senator from St. Louis, said in a statement. “It is the opposite of conservative; it is radical.”
Two current Republican senators, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mike Lee of Utah, joined the growing number who now oppose the legislators’ challenge.
Portman said in a statement, “I cannot support allowing Congress tothwart the will of the voters.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has tried to prevent his party from engaging in this battle. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Trump ally, has declined to speak publicly on it.
Trump has enlisted support from a dozen Republican senators and up to 100 House Republicans to challenge Biden’s 306- 232 Electoral College win.
With Biden set to be inaugurated Jan. 20, Trump is intensifying efforts to prevent the transfer of power.
On a call disclosed Sunday,
Trump pressured Georgia officials to “find” him more votes from the Nov. 3 election he lost in that state.
Biden has been muted in his response to Trump. Transition spokesman Mike Gwin dismissed the senators’ effort as a “stunt” that won’t change the fact that Biden will be sworn in Jan. 20.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who convened a private call of House Democrats on Monday, said in a letter to colleagues that while there is “no doubt” of Biden’s victory, their job now “is to convince more of the American people to trust in our democratic system.”
The typically routine process of confirming Electoral College votes has been hit with brief objections before. In2017, several House Democrats challenged Trump’s win, but Biden, who presided at the time as the vice president, swiftly dismissed them to assert Trump’s victory.
“The 2020 election is over,” said a statement Sunday from a bipartisan group of 10 senators, including Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah.
A range of Republican officials, including Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third- ranking House GOP leader, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, have criticized the GOP efforts to overturn the election.
Cruz’s coalition of 11 senators vows to reject the Electoral College tallies unless Congress launches a commission to conduct an audit of the election results.