As you’re no doubt aware, emotions run high where the 2020 presidential election’s concerned.
And amid the inflamed feelings, Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley announced Wednesday he’ll file a formal objection when Congress tallies the electoral votes this upcoming week.
To that, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse gave less-than-enthusiastic thumbs.
Via a December 30th Facebook post about Trump and those in his camp, here’s what Sasse had to say:
“They have been asking – first the courts, then state legislatures, now the Congress – to overturn the results of a presidential election. They have unsuccessfully called on judges and are now calling on federal officeholders to invalidate millions and millions of votes. If you make big claims, you had better have the evidence. But the president doesn’t and neither do the institutional arsonist members of Congress who will object to the Electoral College vote.”
“Let’s be clear,” he continued, “what is happening here: We have a bunch of ambitious politicians who think there’s a quick way to tap into the president’s populist base without doing any real, long-term damage. But they’re wrong – and this issue is bigger than anyone’s personal ambitions. Adults don’t point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government.”
In a nutshell:
“The President and his allies are playing with fire.”
Ben also hosed the cause:
“From where I sit, the single-most telling fact is that there a giant gulf between what President Trump and his allies say in public – for example, on social media, or at press conferences outside Philadelphia landscaping companies and adult bookstores – and what President Trump’s lawyers actually say in courts of law. And that’s not a surprise. Because there are no penalties for misleading the public. But there are serious penalties for misleading a judge, and the president’s lawyers know that – and thus they have repeated almost none of the claims of grand voter fraud that the campaign spokespeople are screaming at their most zealous supporters. So, here’s the heart of this whole thing: this isn’t really a legal strategy – it’s a fundraising strategy.”
Back to NBC, on Sunday, Chuck put GOP Sen. Ron Johnson on a spit and lit things up, using Ben’s verbiage to apply heat.
As noted by Yahoo News, Ron’s one of 11 senators and senators-elect who’ll be challenging Biden’s planned victory certification on January 6th.
The senator insisted their opposition effort’s warranted by tens of millions’ belief the election was rigged.
But Chuck shot back with an intense accusation:
“[Y]ou and your colleagues have created this controversy. … You made an allegation that there was widespread fraud. You have failed to offer specific evidence of that widespread fraud. But you’re demanding an investigation on the grounds that there are allegations of widespread fraud.”
Here it comes:
“So essentially, you’re the arsonist here. President Trump is the arsonist here. You’ve started this fire.”
WATCH: @chucktodd to @senronjohnson: “You made an allegation that there was widespread fraud, you failed to offer specific evidence of that widespread fraud, but you’re demanding an investigation on … allegations of widespread fraud.”
“Essentially, you’re the arsonist here.” pic.twitter.com/PtZMSPoWtu
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 3, 2021
Chuck even called Ron a coward:
“And now you’re saying, ‘Whoa, look at this! Oh my god! All these people believe what we told them.’ Because you didn’t have the guts to tell the truth that this election was fair.”
Ron volleyed with a media slam where both the 2016 and 2020 elections — and “any pretense of being unbiased” — are concerned.
He might’ve also played this:
Chuck claimed Ron is “carrying crazy conspiratorial water for President Trump” and “[creating] the illusion of voter fraud.”
“Senator, I’ve had enough of this,” Chuck chucked.
Ron rebutted with a backatcha:
“I’ve had enough of this too.”
Surely much more conflict is to come — intraparty as well as inter. On both sides.
From Yahoo News:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged colleagues to not back the quixotic plan to object to the Electoral College certification on Wednesday. The effort is almost certain to fail: Both the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democratic-controlled House would have to agree to reject a state’s electors. Republicans hold a narrow majority in the Senate and several Republican lawmakers have said they won’t back the resolution.
Regardless of what happens this week, it seems America is primed for another year of tumult.
What do you think will happen Wednesday? Will you watch?
