Anti-Trump Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse took at shot at Josh Hawley for opposing the certification of the electoral college on Wednesday, likening Hawley’s actions to ambitious gamesmanship. Sasse is a longtime anti-Trump Republican, having declined to support or vote for President Trump in either 2016 or 2020.
Sasse claims that objecting to electoral college results will inflict “long term damage” on what he defines as “legitimate self-government.” He described skepticism of pending electoral college results as such in a Facebook Q&A.
Sasse also likened his Republican Senate colleagues to partisan hacks, claiming that the caucus universally understands the 2020 election as legitimate and fair. Multiple Republican Senators, including Tommy Tuberville, Rand Paul, and Ron Johnson have raised questions about the veracity of the election and voter fraud, and Sasse’s accusation levels charges of dishonesty against them.
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley announced that he intends to challenge certification on the same day.
In a statement, Hawley explained why he intends to challenge Senate certification of an electoral college slate that enthrones Biden as President of the United States. Hawley cites not only Pennsylvania’s flagrant violation of state and federal election law in conducting its election, but an unprecedented censorship campaign on the part of Big Tech monopolies Facebook and Twitter to attack the First Amendment and silence information critical of Biden.
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville has also suggested he intends to challenge the certification of electoral college results in the Senate. The Republican challenge to the electoral college isn’t a novel development in Congress, with anti-Trump Democrats having sought to overturn the 2016 election on the basis of discredited “Russian interference” conspiracies.