Refusing to accept the results of the 2024 election has become a litmus test for Republicans pushing to become former President Trump’s running mate, but that makes their Republican Senate colleagues uneasy at the prospect of another deadlock on January 6 if Trump loses.
A group of Senate Republicans are rejecting the idea that a victory for President Biden in November would likely be the result of fraud, sending a clear message to Trump and his allies that any attempt to cast doubt on the results without clear evidence of wrongdoing will not be found. a lot of support in Washington.
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While Trump has refused to accept the election results in advance, many Republican lawmakers are unwilling to take the same path — with the exception of a handful of people trying to reach the top of his VP shortlist.
And these ambitious Republicans trying to curry favor with Trump are putting themselves on an island within the Republican party.
“What happened in 2020 was something most people never thought possible – not just questioning the outcome of the election, questioning the legitimacy of the president and then trying to stop the certification,” said Senator John Smith. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said of the lingering fear following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
She said Republicans are being asked whether they will accept the outcome of the November election as January 6 continues to weigh on the nation.
“It is not a question that comes out of the blue. It’s something that’s important for people to know,” she said.
Murkowski and other Republicans say Trump or Biden have the right to challenge the election results in court, but that once a court rules and without clear and convincing evidence of widespread fraud, the losing candidate must accept the outcome.
“I want us to get to a place where we accept the outcome of a fair and legitimate election,” she said. “What I don’t like is the suggestion months and months and months before an election that there might be something nefarious at play.”
Republican Senate Whip John Thune (SD), who helped lead opposition to Trump’s efforts to block the certification of Biden’s victory in the Senate, said this week he would accept the results if they pass the Senate courts are validated – taking the same position he does. and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) took that after the 2020 election.
“I am all for allowing any and all mechanisms under the law in any election, if there are concerns about the election, whether or not there are fraudulent aspects to it – whether it be recounts, audits or lawsuits, etc. – but when that’s all done and settled, it’s over,” Thune said.
Thune famously predicted that an effort to block the certification of the 2020 election in the Senate would end “like a bull’s-eye.”
That was after Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, announced in December 2020 that the Justice Department had found no evidence of widespread fraud in the election, and that multiple challenges from Trump’s allies to overturn the state results failed in court.
Senator Thom Tillis (RN.C.) said he will carefully review the election results and claims of fraud, but he expects to be able to certify the election results as he did in 2021.
“I will follow the same process as in past elections. I’m going to look at the process… And I expect it’s more likely than not that I will vote to certify the election results, as I did in 2020,” Tillis said.
Tillis said he called legislative leaders in 2020 to follow up on fraud claims and felt reassured that there was no widespread fraud, despite Trump’s claims at the time.
When asked whether he would accept the outcome of the 2024 election, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) simply replied, “I don’t know why you wouldn’t.”
“The results are the results,” he said.
But Trump is now once again regularly expressing doubts about the fairness of the 2024 election — about once a day, according to an analysis by The New York Times published Friday.
And the tactic is being copied by Republican senators vying to be his running mate or trying to appeal to the Republican base for their own reelection races.
Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who are reportedly on Trump’s vice-presidential shortlist, have declined in nationally televised interviews to commit to accepting the election results.
Scott, who is seen as a front-runner for the VP slot at the Senate GOP conference, repeatedly declined to make any commitments when “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker asked him six times whether he would review the results of the Senate elections. November would accept.
Rubio dodged a question on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this month about accepting the election results by insisting, “You’re asking the wrong person.”
“You now have Democrats saying they won’t certify 2024 because Trump is an insurrectionist and ineligible for office. So you have to ask them,” he said.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is up for re-election and led an effort to delay the certification of the 2020 election results, reacted angrily when asked in a CNN interview last week whether he would accept the election results and called it a “ridiculous question.”
“If the Democrats win, I will accept the outcome, but I am not going to ignore fraud,” he said.
Cruz still claims there was “significant voter fraud in 2020.”
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a possible VP pick at the Republican conference, said he would have refused to certify Biden’s victory in January 2021 if he was serving in the Senate at the time. He did not come to the Senate until January 2023.
Vance hedged somewhat when recently asked if he would commit to accepting the upcoming election results, qualifying his promise to accept the results if the election were “free and fair.”
“If it’s a free and fair election, Dana, I think every Republican will enthusiastically accept the outcome,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash. “And again, I think these results will show that Donald Trump has been elected president.”
However, Vance cautioned that if there are claims of fraud, “you have to be prepared to address those issues and prosecute the case.”
“Certainly, if we have free and fair elections, I will accept the results,” he said.
Cramer said colleagues who refuse to accept the election results are sending a message to Trump, possibly hoping to be tapped for the ticket.
“I would imagine they are sending a message to the person who will make the decision on who the running mate is,” he said.
“The results are the results. Barring a catastrophic or obvious case of fraud or abuse, I am not in favor of challenging election results beyond legal standards,” he explained.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is challenging Thune to succeed McConnell as Republican Senate leader in 2025, said he would turn to the courts if the election results are challenged.
“There is a process through which any irregularities can be challenged, and this usually happens in court. If there is any dispute, I will inspect the final judgment of the court,” he said.
Cornyn said, “Many states have come a long way in tightening things up, but I think it’s still a problem,” referring to concerns many Republican politicians, pundits and voters had about changes to state election laws during the pandemic. easier absentee voting.
Cornyn has tried to appeal to conservative colleagues like Cruz and other conservative members of the Senate Steering Committee in his leadership campaign.
Several states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, have since tightened their absentee voting rules. For example, Georgia passed a law to restrict the mass mailing of absentee ballots, and North Carolina passed a new law requiring ballots to be received before election night.
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