COLOMBIA – A South Carolina congressman said that even after a mob occupation of the United States Capitol, he did not give up the strife, the election that cost Donald Trump the White House was a failure.
“The attack on the Capitol did not change the substance of the issues at hand,” US Representative Jeff Duncan, R-Laurens, said in the aftermath.
“And that is why – even after the chaos – I raised objections to voters in some states that held elections,” he said on Thursday morning.
He accused several states of holding elections “in direct contradiction to their state laws, state constitutions and the United States Constitution”, although such arguments have been rejected by state officials and courts.
Duncan was one of five Republicans in the South Carolina House who protested the confirmation of the votes from the state Electoral College that Joe Biden won.
He was adamant that nothing in his objection was inappropriate.
“A noisy minority called me a seditious and traitor to my country,” Duncan said in a media message delivered after the night was over and after peace was restored after a crowd of Trump supporters took over the building on Wednesday .
“They suggested that I and some of my colleagues should be expelled from Congress for signing two amicus briefs in support of electoral integrity and for voting objections to voters,” he continued. “These accusations are revolting, politically motivated and, frankly, don’t even make sense.”
The four House of Representatives Republicans who previously announced their objection plans – Duncan, William Timmons of Greenville, Ralph Norman of Rock Hill and Joe Wilson of Springdale – all moved on, as did US Representative Tom Rice of Myrtle Beach, who had said he wasn’t sure how he was going to vote.
In this image from the video, Rep. Ralph Norman, RS.C., speaks as the House debates the objection to confirm the Pennsylvania Electoral College vote at the US Capitol on Thursday, January 7, 2021. Television Camera via AP
All five voted in favor of the objection to Arizona and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes that helped ensure Biden’s victory.
Rice said he knew the election protest had no chance of success and that Biden was on his way to being the next president. But he signed the objection as a matter of constitutional law.
“Just looking at the fact that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court changed the electoral law, which they had no right to do, certainly made it more open to electoral fraud,” said Rice, admitting that the apparent fraud was not enough to change the election.
He added: “It was not about supporting Donald Trump, but about supporting our elections.”
The only Republican in South Carolina to oppose the effort was newly elected US MP Nancy Mace of Charleston. She joined US Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott as well as the state’s only Democrat, Representative Jim Clyburn of Columbia, in voting against the objections.
In this image from the video, Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., speaks as the Senate meets to debate the objection to confirm the Arizona Electoral College vote after protesters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, June 6. January 2021. Senate Television via AP
The House’s votes to object to the results of Arizona and Pennsylvania failed 303-121 and 282-132, respectively. Senate votes were 93-6 in Arizona and 92-7 in Pennsylvania.
South Carolina opponents cited changes in electoral laws and unfounded allegations of fraud to explain his decision. Graham, usually one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress, went on to object to an objection in a Senate floor speech on Wednesday night, saying Republicans needed to admit that Biden won.
A chorus of leading Republicans predicted on Thursday that the siege would tarnish Trump’s mandate, and they urged his party to step aside from the president’s influence. They included prominent South Carolinians such as ex-deputy Bob Inglis, who asked for the removal of the president from office, and ex-deputy Trey Gowdy, who said he no longer knew what his party stood for.
On the South Carolina radio program, the party’s base was not shaken, suggesting lines of failure fueled by misinformation in a party evaluating a series of electoral defeats.
On Thursday morning, people who called up radio programs in Upstate alternately explained that the riot stemmed from growing frustration at the baseless allegations of a stolen election and, without evidence, transferred the blame to far-left agitators.
A Spartanburg man blamed “external bullies” while saying that the crowd outside the Capitol was a “powder keg waiting to explode”. A woman from Pickens said the meeting was peaceful, after saying that “freedom is worth fighting for”. A man in Greer said, “People don’t realize that we are at war here. Democrats are basically our enemies.”
On the other side of the emerging division, Vince Coakley, who hosts a conservative talk show in Charlotte and Greenville, expressed frustration with the president’s “incessant propaganda”. In order to win the elections, Coakley said, the party needed to reject “a critical perspective that makes you lose touch with reality.”
Senator Tim Scott, RS.C., stops to examine the damage in the early hours of Thursday, January 7, 2021, after protesters stormed the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. Scott voted against objections to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Andrew Harnik / AP
Democrats were less restrained. SC Democratic Party president Trav Robertson went so far as to accuse Republicans who opposed the Electoral College of sedition.
“These Republican members of Congress claim to love our country and democracy, but they are attempting a coup to overthrow our government,” said Robertson. “This is the complete antithesis of democracy and they should be arrested and tried for proof of no betrayal to support their fraudulent claims.”
Tyler Fleming and Thad Moore contributed to this report.
Follow Jamie Lovegrove on Twitter @jslovegrove.