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As Trump’s term drew to a close, the Republican infighting turned fierce over the plan to “roll back” the election.
Republicans saw a serious divide the day the new Congress took office on Jan. 3, when at least 12 senators planned to join some 140 senators in challenging Joe Biden’s victory. Tensions escalated to the point where it was the senators of the Republic who fought alone. Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey accused some Republicans of undermining his right to run in direct elections, while Missouri Senator Josh Hawley criticized Toomey’s argument with “brazen personal attacks.” .
This back-to-back duel summed up a larger internal battle over how closely Republicans will support the president, who has persisted in trying to challenge the election results for the past two months and attend. he plans to stay in power after leaving the White House. It all happened just before the Georgia Senate seat race, which decided Democrats or Republicans controlled the United States Senate, ended on January 5.
“I am concerned about the division in America, it is a big problem, but obviously not good for Republicans,” complained Senator Ben Sasse from Nebraska. “Very bad both for this party and for the United States.”
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey on Capitol Hill in Washington in January 2020. Image: AP
The “flip-over” will take place on January 6 when the Senate holds two-hour debates on contested electoral votes. Biden’s victory is not easy to reverse, but many lawmakers from both parties are warning that the effort will hurt America.
Senators said a majority of Republicans would oppose the effort, and Democrats also said they believe the Jan. 6 debate will see Republicans oppose their colleagues. .
“You’ll see some Republicans on our side,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said.
According to Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine, two Politico editors, what was happening was re-enacting the failed attempts by some Republicans in 2013 to protest Obamacare. At the time, a small group of conservative members called on Republicans to do everything possible to stop President Obama’s health care bill. The attempt quickly failed, but made Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas famous. Similarly, backing this year’s election rollback effort is also making many of Trump’s close allies stand out.
However, Everett and Levine said that could not prevent Biden’s victory because he only needed a majority in the Senate. But Cruz and Hawley are not shy and are trying to raise funds for “reversal” efforts. They are building a foothold on the right wing that supports Trump, although it is not known if the president will run again in 2024.
“I plan to vote on January 6 to oppose the voters of the states in dispute, unless the votes are counted again within 10 days. Our electoral integrity cannot be compromised.” Cruz said last week.
Be it senators like Toomey, Sasse or Mitt Romney from Utah, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Susan Collins from Maine criticized their colleagues for their efforts to challenge the elections, many other Republican members. he says the party’s internal divisions are being “exaggerated.” Others believe Republicans will rally after the current fight.
Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who plans to run for reelection in 2022, believes that Hawley and Cruz’s plans cannot succeed. “None of these proposals will work. I don’t think it will have a lasting impact on our party.”
However, some Republicans believe that many in the party are trying to hide the conflict from the Georgia elections on January 5, when the Republic needs a larger number of votes to defeat the Democrats. Teacher.
“It was an internal fight that we didn’t need before the important election. All of this should have been left when the elections, the voting ended,” said a Republican senator. “There is a lot of pressure to support the president in some way. But … everyone swears to defend the Constitution, not the president.”
The president took his lobbying campaign to new heights Jan. 2, calling Georgia Secretary General Brad Raffensperger and asking to “find” enough votes to help him regain victory in the state. .
When senators were sworn in for a new six-year term, some advocates decided to challenge Biden’s victory. Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford emphasized that his efforts were to uncover the truth, not show loyalty to Trump.
“Neither of us wanted to vote against the voters, but we all wanted to find out the truth,” Lankford said.
“Everyone in Kansas feels disenfranchised and they want us to understand the anomalies they see in this election. This is the way to do it,” said Senator Roger Marshall. “I feel like our Constitution has been violated.”
Senator Ted Cruz at a Republican campaign event in Cumming, Georgia on 2/1. Image: Reuters.
Sasse and Romney have accused the senators of joining the protest effort to serve in a political attempt to “please” voters who support Trump. While Collins says “it is important that we all begin to recognize reality.”
Attempts to contest the election have also created some divisions within the Republican Party in the House of Representatives. Liz Cheney, Speaker of the Republican Congress in the House of Representatives, said the election challenge was unconstitutional and could set a “dangerous precedent.”
“It is very difficult to imagine an action against democracy and more conservative than that,” said former Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan. But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Trump’s main ally, has made no effort to oppose the electoral “recall” scheme, according to many Republican aides and lawmakers.
Meanwhile, a group of seven Republicans, including members of the tough conservative Freedom Caucus, issued a lengthy statement on January 3 protesting the revocation plan, stating that it “must respect the authority of states.”
Opponents believe that only a few more Republican senators could be involved in the attempt to overthrow the 12 previously declared senators. But they also admit that they still face pressure from pro-Trump voters.
According to Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, when you consider the level of support for Trump in the state, it is easier for him to support the “turnaround.”
“It’s very easy to do. But this is a great decision,” said Cramer, who has yet to make a decision. “People here feel to a great extent that the elections have been stolen. And there is nothing we can do to change the outcome.”
Thanh tam (According to the Politician)
