Critics pointed out that despite repeated scattered allegations of fraud by President Donald Trump, all states have certified their results – some of them after full recounts – and that dozens of court decisions have confirmed the validity of Joe Biden’s victory on November 3. I also noted that Republicans are being selective in contesting the results, alleging fraud in certain states won by Biden, but not in electoral disputes won by Republicans in those same states.
Regardless, the Texas Republican indicated that he had doubts that the election was legal.
“We entered this election with the country deeply divided, deeply polarized,” said Cruz on the Fox News channel program, “and in the past two months we have seen unprecedented allegations of electoral fraud, and this has produced a deep distrust of our democratic process throughout the parents. I think that we in Congress have an obligation to do something about it. We have an obligation to protect the integrity of the democratic system. “
He also said that he would have liked the Supreme Court, which twice refused to hear the challenges to Biden’s election, to have agreed to settle the issue – and said that President Donald Trump asked him to present his case before the high court of the United States. parents.
“I wish the Supreme Court had accepted this case,” said Cruz. “There were two opportunities to take this case. One from Pennsylvania, one from Texas, and in both cases, lawyers asked me to argue about these cases, and therefore, in relation to the Texas case, President Trump called me and said, ‘Ted, would you make the oral argument? in this case if the court accepts it? ‘I said to the president,’ I would definitely be happy to do that. ‘ I wish the court had accepted one or both cases. I think the Supreme Court is a better forum for resolving these issues. “
Cruz said challenging the election results was not an ideal thing for Congress, but it seemed better to him than just accepting the results. “Frankly, two very bad choices,” he said.
For the challenge of the Republican Party Congress to be successful, the House and Senate would have to vote to not certify the results when the results of the Electoral College are presented in a joint session of Congress on January 6 with the vice president Mike Pence in charge. While Republicans can delay Biden’s certification in a matter of hours – a challenge to the results would lead to a debate in the House and Senate, and then to a vote – their effort is almost certainly doomed to failure. Democrats hold the majority in the House, and several Republicans in the Senate have made it clear that they will not vote in favor of the Republican challenge.
Some Senate Republicans – including Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Ben Sasse of Nebraska – have been vocal in condemning the Republican Party’s challenge, describing it as a threat to the rule of law. “The blatant ploy to reject voters may increase the political ambition of some, but it dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic,” Romney said in a statement.
One of the other Republicans who vowed to reject the election results, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, fought with presenter Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program on Sunday over the legitimacy of the crisis that Republicans intend to end now.
“You have to ask yourself: when you tell people a million times that something was stolen or that something was a fraud and then they believe it, I think you need to look in the mirror,” Todd told him.
“Chuck, look in your mirror,” replied Johnson.
As it stands, Biden is expected to end with 306 votes at the Electoral College, with Trump at 232.