McConnell Congratulates Biden, Recognizes Him as 'President Elect'
Objection 'isn’t in the best interest of everybody'
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has recognized Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president-elect and vice president-elect.
McConnell reportedly told colleagues that an objection “isn’t in the best interest of everybody" and urged GOP Senators to "stop objecting to electoral votes."
The Hill reported:
McConnell warned that any GOP senator who signed onto a House Republican objection to a state’s electoral votes would then force the Senate to debate and vote on the objection, putting fellow GOP senators in a bad position.
McConnell along with Republican Whip Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Rules Committee Chairman Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) all made calls for Republicans to refrain from objecting to electoral votes.
“I think that there was encouragement on the phone for us to accept the result, as much as it’s not what we, you know, would have envisioned for the next four years, and to try to do what’s best for American people, which is to look forward,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said, according to the Hill.
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Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) also said he has no indications that GOP senators poised to reject the results.
🚨NEW On a Senate R call just now, @senatemajldr, @RoyBlunt & @SenJohnThune all pleaded with Senate Rs to NOT object to the election results Jan. 6.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 15, 2020
MCCONNEL: it’s a “terrible vote” for the GOP. They’d have to vote it down, which makes it seem like they are anti Trump, he said
Republican electors in key swing states cast alternate slates of electoral votes to keep President Donald Trump’s legal challenges afloat, particularly in the event of a viable challenge in Congress.
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) plans to object to next month’s count.
However, he needs a GOP senator to join him in order to launch the challenge successfully.
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“Well, it’s happened many times in the past,” Brooks said during a Monday appearance on Fox News Business’s Lou Dobbs Tonight.
“Apparently, some folks have not done their history.”
“By way of example, the Democrats in the House tried it in 2017 when they tried to strike Alabama’s votes for Donald Trump."
"Georgia, the same way, the House Democrats tried to strike it. Barbara Boxer tried to strike Ohio for George Bush back in 2005, so this is not unusual,” he continued, adding that the “law is very clear.”
“The House of Representatives, in combination with the United States Senate, has the lawful authority to accept or reject Electoral College vote submissions from states that have such flawed election systems that they’re not worthy of our trust,” Brooks said.
