Senate Democrats are pushing for two of their Republican colleagues to resign after Wednesday’s US Capitol building riot, claiming that their roles in challenging the November election results helped to “undermine” democracy.
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Were vocal objectors during Wednesday’s electoral vote count, and now they are being urged to resign as a result.
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“In a time of deep national division and in the midst of a violent attack on the United States Capitol, Senators Cruz and Hawley chose to undermine our democracy and feed the big lie that the election was stolen,” Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn ., tweeted on Saturday night. “They should resign immediately.”
Smith joins several other Democrats, including Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Chris Coons, D-Del.
“Both @HawleyMO and @SenTedCruz they betrayed their oaths of office and incited a violent insurrection against our democracy, “said Brown.” I am asking for your immediate resignations. If they do not resign, the Senate must expel them. “
In an interview with WBOCCassie Semyon, Coons agreed with those calling for the Republicans to leave.
“Yes, I think they should resign,” he said.
CRUZ DEFENDS THE ROLE IN ELECTORAL VOTING OBJECTIONS: I HAD ‘NOTHING TO DO’ WITH CAPITOL RULES
Murray also asked Hawley and Cruz to step down, claiming that “[a]Every senator who stands up and supports the power of force over the power of democracy has broken his oath. Senators Hawley and Cruz should resign. “
Although Hawley and Cruz were vocal supporters of objections to electoral votes, none endorsed force or violence. Both condemned the violence and said that those who broke the law must suffer the consequences.
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Cruz called what happened on Wednesday “a terrorist attack” and “a horrible attack on our democracy”. He called those involved to be prosecuted.
In an interview with KXAS-TV, Cruz stated that, when calling for debate in the Senate, he was following the proper procedure and was in no way involved in violent activities.
“What I was doing is debating in the plenary the electoral integrity of the Senate,” said Cruz. “This has nothing to do with this criminal terrorist attack, which was wrong and needs to be prosecuted. It is the exact opposite. What I was doing is how you should solve the problems in this country.”
Hawley also said that “those who attacked the police and broke the law must be prosecuted”.
Fox News’s Megan Henney contributed to this report.