WASHINGTON – The newly elected chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Harris, has suggested that North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state legislature should consider awarding the state’s electors to Donald Trump before all the votes are counted , according to a video of him. comments posted on social media on Friday.
Citing North Carolina counties hit by Hurricane Helene where residents may have difficulty voting, Harris said Thursday evening during a question-and-answer session at a Republican Party dinner in Maryland that it “makes a lot of sense” if the state legislature calls a joint session to allocate voting rights. state voters on Election Day, November 5.
The Maryland Republican congressman was responding to comments at the Talbot County Lincoln-Reagan Dinner from a pro-Trump activist, Ivan Raiklin, who suggested to the audience that Trump and others should appeal to GOP-led state legislatures in multiple states, including North America. Carolina and swing states like Arizona and Georgia, to meet on Election Day and award their electoral votes to Trump.
Raiklin posted a video of his conversation with Harris on X Friday, as well as a full video of the event featuring Harris’ comments.
“In North Carolina, that makes a lot of sense,” Harris told Raiklin during the question-and-answer session before dozens of GOP attendees. “I mean statistically you can say, ‘Hey, look, you’re disenfranchised in 25 counties. You know what that vote probably would have been, and that would be – if I was in the Legislature, enough to say, “Yes, we need to convene the Legislature.” We cannot disenfranchise voters.”
“But how do you make the argument in other states? I mean, otherwise it looks like it’s just a power play,” Harris continued. “In North Carolina, I mean it’s legit. I mean, there’s a lot of people who don’t vote and it could make a difference in that state.”
In a statement, Harris said Thursday’s “theoretical conversation” about early awarding of electoral votes was “taken out of context.”
“As I have said repeatedly, every legal vote must be counted. Right now, voting is going well in western North Carolina,” Harris said before directing blame at Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., for expressing doubts about whether he would vote to secure a Trump election victory to certify if there are any deviations.
Harris was inducted into Congress during the 2010 Tea Party wave and was elected chairman of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus last month, succeeding Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., who lost his primary race after running against Trump .
Harris played a role in the Republican Party’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He attended a Dec. 21, 2020, White House meeting between Trump and Republicans in the House of Representatives, where they devised a strategy to overturn the election results, the Jan. 6 committee said.
Raiklin said Thursday at the Lincoln-Reagan dinner that popular podcaster Joe Rogan — who was scheduled to interview Trump on Friday — should ask the former president to “call on state legislatures across the country to just go ahead and on Nov. 5 to meet. to assign the electors of their own state.”
“At a minimum, in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, so that those states ensure that there is no illegal voting, no illegal drop boxes, no illegal signature non-verification, and that it is completely free and is fair. , transparent,” Raiklin added. “And it can be streamed live on X, Rumble and C-SPAN for the whole world to see.”
Raiklin explained that Republicans have the advantage over Democrats in state legislatures: “Right now, 276 electoral votes are controlled by the Republican legislature, where they control the House of Representatives and the Senate. And in the case of Nebraska, it’s a unicameral legislature controlled by Republicans. What happens if Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson all call on this? Are the chances increasing?”
Democrats immediately condemned Harris for approving the proposal to apportion North Carolina’s electoral votes before voters go to the polls.
“It is very important to understand the mainstream Republican goal – to make Donald Trump president regardless of whether he wins the election or not,” tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
