Senator Ron Johnson and NBC News presenter Chuck Todd entered into a heated discussion on Sunday about Republicans’ efforts to challenge certification of the Electoral College count during a joint session of Congress this week.
Johnson, one of at least 12 Republican senators who will object to certification on Wednesday, contested allegations that they are trying to undo the vote that gave President-elect Joe Biden 306 electoral votes for President Trump 232.
“We are not taking action to stop the democratic process – we are taking action to protect it,” said Johnson.
“The fact of the matter is that we have an unsustainable state of affairs in this country, where we have tens of millions of people who do not see the election results as legitimate,” said the Wisconsin Republican in “Meet the Press”.
In a statement on Saturday, Johnson and his Republican counterpart, including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and four new senators, said the election “featured unprecedented allegations of electoral fraud” and asked Congress to appoint a conduct committee to conduct a 10-day audit.
“As long as someone opposes this and we are going to take a vote, we are going to propose a solution in terms of transparency, investigation, with a commission,” said Johnson.
But Todd noted that the controversy is the result of the president and his Republican allies repeatedly alleging electoral fraud, even when the courts rejected dozens of lawsuits filed by Trump’s legal team and Republican lawmakers.
“You made a claim that there was widespread fraud, you did not provide specific evidence of that widespread fraud, but you are demanding an investigation on the basis that there are allegations of widespread fraud. So, essentially, you’re the arsonist here. President Trump is the arsonist here, ”Todd told Johnson.
“Because you didn’t have the courage to tell the truth that this election was fair!” He continued.
But Johnson responded by saying that Todd was the “arsonist” because the mainstream media in January 2017 “abandoned any pretense of being impartial and really chose a side during the election”.
Johnson said the media threw fuel into the fire by ignoring the investigation into Hunter Biden’s business in China and Ukraine.
“Senator, fine, that’s enough,” said Todd.
“I’m sick of it, too,” said Johnson – going on to say that the media was biased against Trump.
Todd told Johnson that he and his colleagues “cannot make these claims that have not been proven true” and asked him who won in Wisconsin.
“Vice President Biden won by 20,000 votes. But there are also problems in Wisconsin, ”said Johnson, continuing to question the voting systems used to count votes in the state.
During an exchange of ideas in which both were interrupted, Todd asked why he did not hold hearings on the “9/11 advocates. Many people thought that 9/11 was an inside job. “
“What you’re basically saying is that if there are enough people who believe in a conspiracy theory … how about the moon landing? Are you going to hold hearings on this?
“There are some issues that need to be explored and investigated,” said Johnson of the 2020 election.
Todd, at the end of the interview, thanked Johnson for appearing because “only two of his colleagues had the courage to say yes this weekend about this conspiracy theory you are working on”.