UPDATE, 10:46 a.m. PT: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vigorously pushed back lawmakers who protested Joe Biden’s victory, characterizing him as an attempt to overthrow the will of the electorate.
“We discussed a move unprecedented in American history, whether Congress should override voters and overthrow a presidential election,” said McConnell, his biggest reprimand to date of President Donald Trump’s allegations of electoral fraud.
“The choice was actually not unusually narrow. The electoral college’s margin of maneuver is almost the same as it was in 2016. “He warned that our democracy would get into a death spiral if the elections were” overturned by mere allegations by the losing side “.
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Congress meets to count votes; Donald Trump is again pressuring Mike Pence to reverse the results
“Congress plays a limited role. We can’t just proclaim ourselves the National Steroids Electoral Board. “
PREVIOUSLY: A joint session of Congress was held on Wednesday to count the votes of the electoral college. Dozens of Republican lawmakers were expected to be planning to question the results, and President Donald Trump attempted to overturn Joe Biden’s victory.
Objections to Biden’s victory began quickly when Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) objected to the Arizona election results and applauded some of their Republican counterparts. This sparked a process in which the Senate and House will retreat to their respective chambers, despite Trump’s allies not having enough votes to block Biden’s 306-232 victory.
“It was an awkward moment to see a standing ovation to question democracy,” Chuck Todd said on MSNBC. Around 140 Republicans and 16 Senators are said to have joined efforts to question the results.
On Fox News, Chris Wallace said, “We’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Usually this is the point where everyone comes together and loses injuries, but they sit and say for the good of the country and in line with our democracy and our constitution, we will see that the person has the most votes and has won the election” , he said. “And the fact that that won’t happen today is kind of sad.”
A big focus was on Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the process. Although it was a ceremonial role, Trump tried to pressure Pence to reject the results despite not having the authority to do so. Pence went largely by script and left objections to the congressional legislators.
Plans to object to the Electoral College victory have sparked sharp divisions among Republican lawmakers. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was expected to deliver a speech in the Senate explaining why he believes the efforts to block the election vote have been futile and even harmful.
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