Donald Trump (74) does not give up his fight for the White House – and is now putting his own party to the acid test.
A growing number of Republican lawmakers have joined his attempts to sabotage the November presidential election. They want to reject the results when Congress meets next Wednesday to count the votes of the electoral college and confirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, 78.
Senator Ted Cruz, 50, from Texas announced on Saturday that a coalition of 12 senators would be calling for a commission of inquiry to be set up. Possible consequence: The election result could be checked again and Biden’s confirmation as the 46th Commander-in-Chief of the USA could be postponed for another 10 days.
This makes it clear: Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat threatens to tear his party apart. Because Republicans are now forced to make decisions that will determine their future direction.
The ringleader of the Senatorial coalition against Biden: Ted CruzPhoto: dpa
The two leading forces of the coalition – alongside Ted Cruz, Senator Josh Hawley (41, Missouri) is one of the ringleaders, one of the potential presidential candidates of 2024 and the right wing of the party that wants to use Trump’s electoral base.
The other senators who refuse to recognize Biden’s victory: Steve Daines (Montana); Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming); Tommy Tuberville, Alabama; Roger Marshall (Kansas); Mike Braun (Indiana); Bill Hagerty (Tennessee); Ron Johnson (Wisconsin); James Lankford (Oklahoma); Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) and John Kennedy (Louisiana).
On the other hand, there is the moderate Republican establishment. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 78, Kentucky, had congratulated Joe Biden on the victory and urged his party to accept the election result, which impartial election officials found a fair vote.
Cruz and Hawley’s senatorial gang admitted that they are unlikely to be able to prevent Biden from being inaugurated on January 20 after winning electoral college 306-232. But their demands, which are also supported by around 100 Republicans in the House of Representatives, are the biggest effort since the civil war to reverse a result of the presidential elections!
AND: You could give Trump’s assertion that he was, in truth, the winner and that the Democrats stole the election, perseverance, divide the country deeper and undermine Americans’ confidence in their democracy.
As a result, many moderate Republicans were appalled and warned that these attempts could undermine America’s democracy. Lisa Murkowski (63, Alaska) urged her colleagues to recognize Biden’s election victory “so that we can ensure that we have the continued trust of the American people.”
12 Republican senators (and around 100 MPs) do not want to recognize his victory: President-elect Joe BidenPhoto: AP
Senator Pat Toomey, 59, who represents the state of Pennsylvania, said: “The right of the people to choose their own leaders is a fundamental characteristic of a democratic republic.” The efforts of Hawley, Cruz, and others would “directly undermine that right.” “. Senator Ben Sasse (48, Nebraska) even spoke of a “dangerous trick that threatens the civil norms of the nation“.
The Democrats reacted vigorously to Ted Cruz’s announcement. The demands to create a federal commission to prevent the state certifications are “undemocratic and un-American,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar (60) from Minnesota. She is the top Democrat on the jury that oversees the election of the electoral college.
Klobuchar: “In the end, democracy will prevail and Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20th.”