Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) fumbled on Monday night when asked what exactly he hopes to achieve by disrupting the congressional proceedings on Wednesday that will cement President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, given that his objection has no chance of overturning Biden’s victory.
“Are you trying to say that as of January 20th, that President Trump will be president?” Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked Hawley, who has pledged to object to Congress’ certification of the Electoral College’s votes.
“Well, Bret, that depends on what happens on Wednesday,” the senator replied. “This is why we have the debate-”
Baier cut him off. “No, it doesn’t,” the Fox News host told Hawley. “The states, by the Constitution, say they certify the election. They did certify it. By the Constitution, Congress doesn’t have the right to overturn the certification, at least as most experts read it.”
The GOP senator asserted that the gambit would be his “only opportunity during this process to raise an objection and to be heard,” pointing to Trump’s bogus conspiracy theories alleging mass voter fraud.
“I can’t investigate claims of voter fraud on my own, but I do have a responsibility in this joint session of Congress to either say I’ve got no problem with it or I do have a problem with it,” Hawley said. “And my constituents expect me to have the right to say I’ve got a problem.”
“But don’t you have a responsibility to your constituents-don’t you have responsibility to tell them that it’s not going to be President Trump as of January 21st as well?” Baier asked.
“Bret, I’m trying to do something more than just that. This is about the integrity of our elections, and this is about taking a stand where you can take a stand,” Hawley said.
Last week, the Missouri Republican announced that he would object when Congress votes to certify the election results, arguing that “millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard.” Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), and other Republican senators have also vowed to vote against certification.
But despite the senators’ and Trump’s claims, there has been no evidence that the election was in any way “rigged” by election fraud.
