McConnell rebukes effort to overturn election. ‘Democracy would enter a death spiral’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rebuked efforts to overturn the result of the presidential election, warning it could send democracy into a “death spiral.”
McConnell urged against fellow Republicans challenging President-elect Joe Biden’s victory during debate over certifying the results of the Electoral College.
“The voters, the court, and the states have all spoken,” McConnell said. “If we overrule them, it would our republic forever.”
McConnell said the election was “not unusually close” and remarked Biden’s Electoral College win was a similar margin to Trump’s victory in 2016. Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.
“If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral,” McConnell said. “We’d never see the whole nation accept an election again. Every four years there’d be a scramble for power at any cost.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz suggested the appointment of an electoral commission to conduct a 10-day emergency audit into baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
”For those on the Democratic aisle who say, ‘There is no evidence, they have been rejected,’ you should rest in comfort,” Cruz said after McConnell spoke. “If that’s the case, an electoral commission would reject those claims.”
But McConnell opposed a protest vote against certifying the election.
“I will not pretend such a vote will be a harmless protest gesture while relying on others to do the right thing,” McConnell said.
As McConnell was speaking inside the calm chambers, rioters had breached the Capitol complex, fighting through police and protective barriers. Several buildings had to be evacuated.
A short time later, the U.S. Capitol building was put on lockdown and Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the certification in his role as Senate President, was taken off the Senate floor.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 1:11 PM with the headline "McConnell rebukes effort to overturn election. ‘Democracy would enter a death spiral’."