Earlier this week, Republican Senator Josh Hawley declared that he intended to object to the counting of electoral votes in Congress on January 6th, a move that falls in lockstep with President Trump’s efforts to overturn the electoral college results following the 2020 Election. In an unprecedented campaign to sow doubt and distrust of the election results among the American people, Hawley, Trump, and over 140 House Republicans are engaged in a last-ditch effort to nullify the election based on unfounded claims of voter fraud. And while this move may serve as a political rallying cry for the Republican party, there is nothing remotely conservative about it, and is an effort that ought to be condemned by any conservative that cares about the integrity and sanctity of America’s institutions, values, and democracy.
To be fair, whenever questions are raised about the integrity of an election, the American people, and consequently the American government, have the right to demand answers and investigate, to ensure that every legal vote is counted. In the 2020 election, 77% of Republicans said that they believed that widespread fraud was present. Obviously, then, when a sizeable portion of the American electorate doubts that the election was fair, it is the duty of the judiciary to ensure that their concerns are not left unheard. Therefore, when the Trump campaign filed lawsuits in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election, it was well within its rights and responsibilities to seek answers on questions that many Americans held regarding the validity of the election. However, the problem is that these questions have long been answered, and yet Trump along with his most fervent loyalists refuse to concede the election.
The Trump campaign and Trump’s allies filed over 50 lawsuits trying to overturn the election on the grounds of widespread voter fraud, and almost every single one of them has been either shot down by the courts or withdrawn. Trump and his campaign, in virtually every instance, have failed to provide substantial evidence to support the claim that the election was stolen through voter fraud. Considering that over the past 4 years Trump has filled the federal judiciary with conservative judges, one can hardly make the claim that the judiciary intends to steal the election from him as well. But conservative judges, like all others, are people of integrity who take seriously their oath to uphold the law, and thus, it should come as no surprise that even they refused to overturn the election without evidence that it was fraudulently conducted. That nearly every lawsuit Trump has filed to nullify the election results has been struck down merely highlights the fact that Trump and his loyalists are pushing baseless claims in a last resort to hold onto the office that Trump rightfully lost on November 3rd. The judiciary has set to rest the concerns of voter fraud playing a significant part in this election. The American people’s questions have been answered. But Trump has still not conceded, and a substantial portion of his base still believes that the election was stolen.
Clearly, then, the claims of “voter fraud” have been nothing more than political posturing, efforts by the President to galvanize his base into backing him through one of the most blatant and disgusting repudiations of our democracy in modern history. And if that hasn’t been made clear enough already, consider the fact that the President is currently openly attempting to steal the election by pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to “find” votes in his favor. After counting its ballots 3 times, the State of Georgia still maintains that Joe Biden won its 16 electoral votes. But the President still isn’t satisfied, and is instead trying to get the state to falsely report that he won Georgia. Republican or Democrat, this behavior should be indefensible and roundly condemned, but unfortunately, Trump’s strongest allies in Congress have decided their loyalties lie with the party and the President, not their country.
To those who call themselves “conservatives” and yet facilitate and encourage what is virtually a coup being orchestrated by our President, I would ask, what exactly are you conserving? The American conservative philosophy rests on a reverence for the Constitution, our traditional institutions, and the rule of law. In their blind fealty to President Trump, the Republicans who have signed onto this political stunt have thrown all three out the window. They care not for our democracy. They care not for the principle of popular sovereignty that undergirds our republic. They care not for the Constitution. They care not even for the principle of states’ rights that conservatives have exalted for decades, as they have decided that forcing an illegitimate Trump victory is more important than respecting states’ authority to certify their own elections absent federal intervention. And by setting the dangerous precedent that it’s acceptable for parties to use their political strength to nullify legitimate election results they don’t like, they have demonstrated that they care nothing about the future survival of our republic.
The survival of America’s republican form of government, among other things, rests on a peaceful transition of power between administrations. For over 240 years, this hasn’t been a problem, and Presidents who have lost re-election have graciously ceded their office to their successors. In breaking centuries of precedent, President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he has no respect for American traditions or the rule of law upon which our nation rests. While his campaign and those who supported him absolutely had the right to file suits if they felt that there was foul play involved in the election, they should have conceded once the courts definitively found that there wasn’t. Unfortunately, Trump and his lapdogs in Congress instead chose to undermine our democracy, charting a path that will undoubtedly set a dangerous precedent for decades to come.
Currently, Senator Ted Cruz is leading 11 Senate Republicans in objecting to the election results, following Sen. Hawley’s lead. There was a time when these Republicans extolled the virtues of the rule of law, election integrity, and Constitutionalism. But in their shameless, unwavering loyalty to President Trump, they’ve decided that principles are less important than using baseless conspiracy theories to overturn a fair election. If there’s any hope for our republic and an indication that the GOP may return to being a party of principles in the future, it’s that the majority of Republicans haven’t signed onto this coup. On January 6th, Joe Biden will be officially declared the 46th President of the United States of America. And on that day, we, the American people, will know which Republicans still have a spine left, and which ones instead chose to give it away to sign onto the efforts of a man who has not a modicum of respect for American democracy.
