Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lambasted their Republican colleagues on Thursday for going along with President Donald Trump’s undemocratic attacks on the election, which he definitively lost to President-elect Joe Biden last week.
“Congressional Republicans are deliberately casting doubt on our elections for no other reason but fear of Donald Trump,” Schumer said during a joint press briefing with Pelosi. “These Republicans are all auditioning for profiles in cowardice.”
The Democratic Senate leader called on GOP senators to “stop denying reality” and emphasized the validity of the election results.
“I want to be very clear with the American people: The election is not in doubt,” Schumer said. “This is nothing more than a temper tantrum by Republicans, nothing more than a pathetic political performance for an audience of one: President Donald John Trump.”
Pelosi told reporters that Republican lawmakers are “engaged in an absurd circus right now” and neglecting to help Americans deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people: their health and their economic security,” the House speaker said.
She also lamented that “it’s most unfortunate that the Republicans have decided they will not respect the will of the people.”
With a few rare exceptions, most Republicans have not recognized Biden’s victory. Many, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have either backed Trump’s flimsy lawsuits against the vote counting process in swing states or enthusiastically participated in the President’s desperate gambit to undermine the elections by falsely crying voter fraud.
