Posted on 12/25/2020 6:36:23 AM PST by RandFan
Senate Republicans say Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will reach out to Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) in an attempt to avoid a messy floor fight next month over finalizing the results of the Electoral College vote.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said GOP leaders will tell Tuberville that voting to suspend the tally of the Electoral College vote next month will be a futile — and politically damaging — move.
“Ultimately every senator will have to make their own decision about that but I think there will be people, yeah, reaching out him just to kind of find out” what he’s going to do, Thune said of Tuberville’s intentions about the Electoral College tally on Jan. 6.
“If nothing else, we need to kind of know the plan,” he added. “We’ll see. He’s made some public statements” about objecting to the vote.
“I’m hoping in the end that all senators will conclude that this election needs to be over with and it’s time to move on,” he said.
President Trump is encouraging Tuberville, who beat former Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) in the Alabama Republican primary with Trump’s support, to contest the electoral vote tally when Congress convenes in a joint session next month.
Trump said in a radio interview over the weekend that he spoke to Tuberville about challenging the vote count and the incoming senator appeared enthusiastic about the idea.
“He’s so excited,” Trump said, adding that Tuberville is grateful for the president’s support during the election. “He said, ‘You made me the most popular politician in the United States.’ He said, ‘I can’t believe it.’ He’s great. Great senator.”
One Republican senator said he expects McConnell to reach out to Tuberville to persuade him that forcing a Senate debate over the legitimacy of any state’s electoral votes is not a good idea.
“I’m sure the leader’s going to reach out and talk to him,” said the senior lawmaker of the expectation that McConnell will try to step in to avoid a messy floor fight over the election results.
“The question is will [Tuberville] listen because his whole election was predicated on Trump not liking Sessions,” the senator added. “From a cold-blooded standpoint … if Trump asks him, I assume he would probably do it because he would see no downside.”
Tuberville defeated Sessions, who represented Alabama in the Senate for 20 years before leaving Congress to serve as Trump’s attorney general, in the July primary thanks largely to Trump’s backing.
Trump endorsed Tuberville on Twitter in March as “a REAL LEADER who will never let MAGA/KAG, or our Country, down!”
McConnell, Thune and Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) have all advised GOP senators not to contest the electoral vote next month.
“I haven’t talked to him about it personally but I’d be shocked if somebody hasn’t talked to him,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas,), an adviser to the Senate GOP leadership.
“It’s basically going through the motions,” Cornyn said of objecting to the Electoral College tally when there’s no chance of reversing the results. “It’s a futile exercise.”
“I hope no senator will decide to do that,” he said before adding that there’s no way GOP leaders can be sure of what happens next month.
“Everybody up here is a free agent,” he said
Election officials in states around the country have already certified the results of the Nov. 3 presidential election and Trump’s legal team has failed to provide evidence to back up his claims of widespread voter fraud, which courts have resoundingly rejected.
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) plans to contest Biden’s victory when the House meets on Jan. 6 to consider the Electoral College votes. A number of other House Republicans have said they will join Brooks, but he needs one senator to do so to force a debate and vote in both chambers.
If any senator signs onto an objection by a House member to reported electoral votes of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin or any other swing state, it would suspend the joint session and force each chamber to separately debate and vote on the issue.
McConnell warned Senate Republican colleagues during a Dec. 15 conference call that objecting to counting certain states’ electoral votes on Jan. 6 would be a political mistake.
He said it would be politically damaging to Republican senators up for reelection to cast votes on such a divisive topic, according to senators who participated in the discussion.
Senators who vote to dismiss the objection face Trump’s wrath, which could dampen support from Trump loyalists in future elections.
Trump in recent days has vented his frustration with Senate Republicans for not joining his effort to contest the election.
“Mitch, 75,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up,” he tweeted at McConnell. “The Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!”
On Tuesday, Trump threatened Thune with a primary challenge in 2022 for urging fellow Republicans not to object to the Electoral College tally.
“Republicans in the Senate so quickly forget. Right now they would be down 8 seats without my backing them in the last Election. RINO John Thune, 'Mitch’s boy', should just let it play out. South Dakota doesn’t like weakness. He will be primaried in 2022, political career over!!!” Trump tweeted.
Senators who vote to support efforts to throw out the electoral votes of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin or other states, face backlash as well.
Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) — if she wins a runoff on Jan. 5 — and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) are up for reelection in 2022 in states facing unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud.
Republicans also have to defend retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R) seat in Pennsylvania. Toomey has dismissed Trump’s claims of voter fraud in his home state, citing a lack of evidence.
Thune said the GOP leadership wants to “encourage all of our members — new members included — that we got a lot of work ahead of us and that rehashing this takes a lot of time and energy and political capital that could best be used working on an agenda for next year.”
The GOP should SEEK a “messy fight.”
Ignoring corruption and pure evil for short-term maintenance of the status-quo only makes things far worse.
“messiness” gets in the way of the Uniparty washing each others backsides
No worries Mitch. Come January 5th, you’re no longer Senate Majority Leader. Voter fraud going to get you too.
This is our GOP: If you’re going to be raped, lie back and enjoy it.
My gut tells me Team Trump has proof many Congressman and Senators are bought off by China and owe alliegance to China
My gut tells me Team Trump has proof many Congressman and Senators are bought off by China and owe alliegance to China
PS, those facts to be dropped January 6 at 8 AM
Any Senator that DOES fight for Trump will be re-elected in a landslide. Anyone who does NOT fight for Trump will be re-elected because free elections are now over in America.
Sorry, but I think that might do more harm than good because I suspect the malware was removed from these machines shortly after Nov. 3/4. An audit now will probably make it look like the machines work fairly, when in fact we have no idea what software was loaded into those machines on Nov. 3/4.
Hello Alexa, I’d like to order a set of balls for all republican congressional members.
Spineless cowards and CCPurchased politicians with a few rare exceptions.
think about it...438 Fed Congressman, 100 Fed senators, 9 SCJ’s, 96 Federal agencies under which there are some 220 departments, 50 state governors and AG’s...1700 some Federal Judges, throw in a few state legislatures...California, Oregon and Washington come to mind.
We’re still under 5000 people.
China has at least 1.3 billion people. The CCP stays in power leveraging the same resources against their own people they have been putting into place in America the last 20 years
Seems a “big project” to us honest patriots. Peanut project for the CCP.
actually 495 Fed congresscritters...but whose counting after a bit of eggnog...
Republicans will change their tune if we burn up the phone and email lines to their offices. Trust me, it works. There are over 75 million of us. We all need to call on a daily basis all of our state senators and demand that they stop the steal.
I would like to suggest a national letter writing campaign to Senator Tuberville and every other GOP senator letting them know that the American people are behind the effort to expose the fraud in this electioneven if cocaine mitch isn’t . Also let them know that the true political peril lies in not having the cajones to stand for our republic. Oh and be sure to tell them that we will primary every gutless sob who fails to stand.
Stand Tall
Brad
Republicans were the kids in school who always had their lunch money taken from them or were always being stuffed into lockers.
If Tuberville wants to be more than a one term senator he’d best not backstab Trump. Sessions would have won if Trump hadn’t endorsed Tuberville. This is die hard Trump country. Alabama never forgets. We are still not totally over the War Between the States. Trump being cheated will fester here for quite a while.
IF there is no fraud why won’t they allow an audit.
Audit the votes, the machines and the software,if there is nothing wrong.
Either there is NO fraud or there is FRAUD.
FULL AUDIT TO SHOW THE TRUTH !!
AGREED.
And he should have hired competent lawyers.
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