Rep. Adam Kinzinger
Adam Daniel Kinzinger GOP lawmaker thinks 100 Republicans can challenge Electoral College results at Sunday shows – Trump’s COVID-19 relief bill opposition dominates Republican lawmaker calls Trump’s election fraud allegations as a “fraud” MORE (R-Ill.) He criticized his Republican colleagues and President Trump
Donald Trump Trump to shorten the trip to Florida, returns to Washington on Thursday Intel vice president says government agency cyber attack “may have started earlier” Secret Service making changes to presidential details amid concerns over members current aligned with Trump because what he said were attempts to discredit the results of the 2020 presidential elections.
In a video entitled “Courage about conspiracies,” said Kinzinger, “The president does not want to admit defeat and no one would. But he is currently trying to discredit the election results through falsehoods and conspiracies.”
“As someone I can trust to lead, I have a choice,” he continued. “I can be quiet and try to survive by taking the easy route. Or I can talk and lead without worrying about the consequences.”
The legislator explained the dangers of how quickly what he described as disinformation can travel quickly in political discourse that goes back years. He declared: “As civil servants, we have a responsibility to serve in good faith”, despite the political results.
Trump and several Republican Party lawmakers claimed that the 2020 election was tainted by widespread electoral fraud. However, federal election officials as well as a former attorney general William Barr
Bill BarrBiden calls for modernization of US defenses after the massive hack that Kevin Clinesmith did wrong, but why is he the FBI hunter? Churches offer reduced online services for Christmas MORE said there was no evidence of widespread electoral fraud in the presidential election.
After the election, the Trump campaign also mounted several legal battles in battle states to challenge the election results, including in Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania. These lawsuits were largely unsuccessful.
Kinzinger said the Republicans who credited these claims “know it is not true” but “fear their next election”.
“A self-protecting snowball has grown rapidly,” said Kinzinger, a critic of Trump and his allies.
On Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley
Joshua (Josh) David Hawley GOP lawmaker thinks 100 Republicans can challenge Electoral College results Here are Republicans planning to challenge Electoral College results Kemp dismisses Trump’s request to resign as ‘a distraction’ MORE (R-Mo.) He joined the House Republicans stating that he would contest the results of the 2020 elections as soon as Congress met on January 6 to officially finalize the results.
“Millions of voters concerned about electoral integrity deserve to be heard,” Hawley said in announcing his objection.
Kinzinger warned that actions like this endanger the integrity of future elections.
“We were sent to lead regardless of our preferred outcome and we must lead,” said Kinzinger. “This will start a terrible cycle in which all elections must be contested and, eventually, we will lose our ability to self-govern.”
Sen. Ben Sasse
Ben SasseTrump’s final weeks create chaos for the Republican Congressional senator with Trump’s pardon: ‘This is rotten to the end’ No, Biden hasn’t won yet – yet another nightmare scenario MORE (R-Neb.) On Thursday he criticized Hawley’s support for challenging the election results.
“Let’s make it clear what’s going on here: we have a lot of ambitious politicians who think there is a quick way to get in touch with the president’s populist base without doing any real long-term damage,” he said on Thursday.
“But they are wrong – and this problem is bigger than anyone’s personal ambitions. Adults don’t point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government.”