It's been more than a month since President-elect Joe Biden defeated outgoing President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, but Trump's refusal to accept the results has yet to subside.
While efforts to undo the results of a democratic election would have been unthinkable only five years ago, an unignorable number of Republican lawmakers have sided with Trump, echoing his lies that widespread voter fraud orchestrated by Democrats won Biden the election.
Earlier this month, 126 Republican lawmakers filed an amicus briefing in support of Texas' lawsuit against the electoral processes of four swing states. That case, whose argument was mocked by numerous legal experts, was denied standing by the Court.
That hasn't stopped some Republicans—like Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky—from further assisting the President in his efforts to undermine faith in America's democratic process.
On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on election fraud with Christopher Krebs as a witness.
Krebs—a Republican—was former head of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) whom Trump fired for assuring the public of the election's integrity.
At the hearing, Paul falsely insisted that widespread election fraud occurred.
Watch below.
.@RandPaul: "The fraud happened. The election in many ways was stolen and the only way it will be fixed is by in the future reinforcing the laws." pic.twitter.com/o0iBhe9ois
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) December 16, 2020
The Senator said:
"The fraud happened. The election in many ways was stolen and the only way it will be fixed is by in the future reinforcing the laws."
He repeated lies about illegal votes in Nevada before calling for election reform. While Paul didn't explicitly call for the reversal of the election, he's speculated to be among the Senators willing to ally with Representative Mo Brooks (R-AL) to challenge the 117th Congress' national certification of the results on January 6—an effort that even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has discouraged.
Twitter users admonished Paul's amplification of election lies.
Rand paul undermining democracy because that's the republican brand. https://t.co/IA7AkS67as
— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) December 16, 2020
I don't know which country Rand Paul is working for — but I do know it's not this one. https://t.co/fDEZknh03s
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) December 16, 2020
Democrat @JimGrayLexKY who lost to Rand Paul by 300k votes in their Senate race in 2016 should just come out now and declare that *he* won the race and it was stolen from him by Paul.
That's the only way the GOP is going to learn - throw their own ridiculous claims back at them! https://t.co/y8XfLZMrVA
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) December 16, 2020
Social platforms can label or restrict Trump's election misinformation posts, but it won't really matter as long as US Senators are pushing unfounded conspiracy theories in televised hearings. pic.twitter.com/lsiIzcGULh
— Nu Wexler (@wexler) December 16, 2020
The words you say matter. The leadership you show when you are needed most matters. Rand Paul has failed consistently on both fronts. All he does is chase baseless conspiracies. He doesn't care about democracy or the lunacy of his actions. He doesn't care about us.
He has to go. https://t.co/JczFxfRL6w
— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) December 16, 2020
The only way the election was "stolen," @RandPaul is if you consider getting *more votes than your opponent* "stealing" an election. Many in the @GOP probably do, especially since your party has only gotten more votes in a presidential election ONCE in the past 32 years. #YOULOST https://t.co/Z6CnQSrPT3
— R.J. Hufnagel (@RJHuf) December 16, 2020
They demanded proof of Paul's claims.
Dear @SenRandPaul
Pony up the proof or shut up!! https://t.co/ue2dxKLxJT
— Kathy Critical Care LPN (@CerritoKathy) December 16, 2020
Hey, @RandPaul, just saw this. It frightens me that you don't know the concept of "burden of proof." You are saying, "Prove dead people didn't vote," but you have no evidence that they did. You sound like a fool here, seriously.🧐 https://t.co/WddZBSJLAI
— Jack Laridian™ - ⓘ This claim is disputed (@JackLaridian) December 16, 2020
When you provide proof of that we can talk! Oh, no proof? Just parroting the pathetic tripe of your dangerous cult leader? Cool. STFU then!! You're not fit for democracy. Step down @RandPaul https://t.co/hbYcMsNJB0
— Monuments (Gabe) (@Monumentsmusic) December 16, 2020
Paul—like the rest of those claiming the election was stolen—has provided no proof or reputable evidence of this claim.
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