After his November defeat in the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump unleashed a multi-pronged effort to install himself for another term. After electors from every state certified their votes and pressure on local election officials and numerous lawsuits failed, Trump turned to January 6—when Congress was to meet in a joint session to nationally certify Biden's election victory. As President of the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence was set to oversee the counting of the votes.
In the weeks before, Republican party members in a number of swing states Trump lost baselessly declared themselves official electors and sent forged electoral certificates to the National Archives, erroneously declaring Trump the victor. There's growing evidence the Trump campaign orchestrated this effort.
The goal—as laid out in a memo by Trump lawyer John Eastman—was to have Pence declare there were multiple slates of electors and toss out the electoral votes of each of these states, essentially nullifying millions of ballots and installing Trump for a second term against the will of the people.
Thankfully, Pence reached the same conclusion as the vast majority of Constitutional scholars and refused to comply with Trump's very public calls enlisting the Vice President to help steal the election. Speaking at the so-called "Save America" rally that day, just before urging his supporters to descend on the Capitol, Trump once again called on Pence to overturn the votes. When news broke that he wouldn't, Trump supporters began storming the Capitol and chanting "Hang Mike Pence!"
Earlier this week, Trump issued a statement through his spokeswoman, Liz Harrington, insisting that bipartisan efforts to clarify the Electoral Count Act, ensuring there's no ambiguity that a Vice President can't singularly decide the election, proved his claims that Pence could change the vote were right.
Trump wrote:
“If the Vice President (Mike Pence) had 'absolutely no right' to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election? Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!”
In a recent interview, Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California—who serves on the House Select Committee investigating January 6—mocked this idea.
Watch below.
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Lofgren jokingly said:
“I guess the former president is saying that the Vice President gets to choose the next President, in which case, Kamala Harris will be presiding at the counting of the votes, and I guess he’s saying she gets to chose who the next president is. That's clearly not what the Constitution provides for. He must be kidding."
People agreed with Lofgren that Trump's complaints were laughable.
Love this Rep Lofgren:”I guess the former President is saying that the vice president gets to choose the next president, in which case Kamala Harris will be presiding at the counting of the votes, and I guess he's saying she gets to choose who the next president is.”
— Allys M. (@ca_allys) January 31, 2022
“I guess the former President is saying that the vice president gets to choose the next president, in which case Kamala Harris will be presiding at the counting of the votes,” -Rep. Zoe Lofgren 😬😂#TFGisADumbass
— PianoGeekRedux (@PianoGeekRedux) January 31, 2022
We should just agree with the Head Magat Trump that the Vice President can choose who i elected President. In 2024, Kamala Harris can choose who the next President. Yay! #RepublicansStandForNothinghttps://t.co/fKBYv28K0B
— Michael "DOc' Mattison (@badinage0) February 1, 2022
And the Congresswoman wasn't the only one to reach this conclusion.
If you agree with Trump's ridiculous logic that the VP can magically change the outcome of a whole election, be careful. Kamala Harris VP right now. Should we not even bother with the election according to Trump's argument? Even Republicans have to see how stupid this is. https://t.co/b82aqPXkCx
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) January 31, 2022
Unusually unhinged for the disgraced former president. No, the vice president doesn't have the power to reverse an election. Yes, it would be good to clarify that. The opposite position is that Kamala Harris should be empowered to second guess the electoral votes of red states. https://t.co/GjY8Wi18TL
— Gregg Nunziata (@greggnunziata) January 31, 2022
Soooo… Why would he run again? Kamala Harris could just overturn the election, right? https://t.co/Knmh6f9sBj
— if i’m here, i’m bored. entertain me. (@_bexology) February 1, 2022
The mockery didn't stop there.
“He could have overturned the election.”
Prosecutors thank you for that admission. It will be helpful evidence as they evaluate your true intent. https://t.co/ChNRa0Jp0t
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) January 31, 2022
The answer is: The Twelfth Amendment and the Electoral Count Act of 1887 already make it entirely clear that the Vice President merely opens the envelopes. But sometimes we want to make laws even clearer so that even semiliterate psychopaths have a chance at understanding them. https://t.co/MZojqccN5G
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 31, 2022
The Republican Party deserves to be led by & tortured by this unfit traitor. The Republican Party deserves every bit of this. https://t.co/szGTBhp4ql
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 31, 2022
Trump is still considered the favorite to win the Republican nomination in 2024.
