With Congress set to meet this afternoon and officially count the Electoral College votes, President Trump is making one last effort to get Vice President Mike Pence to delay things in the hope that state legislatures will act and send a competing set of electors to Congress:
If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency. Many States want to decertify the mistake they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a process NOT approved by their State Legislatures (which it must be). Mike can send it back!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
And he did appear to acknowledge the projected losses of Senators Perdue and Loeffler in yesterday’s runoff elections in Georgia, tweeting “THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, OUR COUNTRY, NEEDS THE PRESIDENCY MORE THAN EVER BEFORE – THE POWER OF THE VETO. STAY STRONG!”:
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, OUR COUNTRY, NEEDS THE PRESIDENCY MORE THAN EVER BEFORE – THE POWER OF THE VETO. STAY STRONG!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
Eric Trump also put pressure on members of Congress to support his father and threatened to personally support primary challengers for those who don’t “stand up against this fraud”:
I will personally work to defeat every single Republican Senator / Congressman who doesn’t stand up against this fraud – they will be primaried in their next election and they will lose.
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) January 6, 2021
He said the same thing during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s show:
"I can tell you, Sean, any senator or any congressmen — meaning on this side — that does not fight tomorrow, I'm telling you, their political career is over, because the MAGA movement is going nowhere … they will get primaried" — Eric Trump pic.twitter.com/Xk7F65D7iG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021
So, does this mean someone like Sen. Tim Scott will get a primary challenge as it sure sounds like he’s not going to challenge the state results:
GOP Sen Tim Scott: "As I read the Constitution, there is no constitutionally viable means for the Congress to overturn an election wherein the states have certified and sent their Electors.”
— Ali Zaslav (@alizaslav) January 5, 2021
There are also reports that Republicans aligned with (future Minority Leader?) Mitch McConnell are out for blood:
Emotions running high among McConnell-aligned Republicans early Wednesday am — after reality of what transpired in Georgia settled in.
May be the heat of the moment, but mood is for declaring war on Team Trump. Want to marginalize Trump as they marginalized Steve Bannon in 2017
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) January 6, 2021
The alternative, in their view? Disastrous political outcomes in the near term, with R primary fights making the establishment-tea party fights of 2010-12 look like a picnic.
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) January 6, 2021
And “fissures are forming”:
“Fissures are forming as Republicans decide whether it's useful to cling to Trump — even as he tries to subvert an election — or to distance themselves. And if the Georgia races are any indication, it appears Republicans are willing to turn on Trump” https://t.co/pbtB7aT5wf
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) January 6, 2021
We’re still waiting for official results from Georgia, but these “fissures” look to be happening at the state level, too:
Here’s the problem for the GOP when you look at the exit polling last night and where the voters came from and did not. College educated white voters and suburban women drifted back to the GOP, but Trump voters stayed home. GOP can’t win without both. Those groups hate each other
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 6, 2021
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