Two Senate allies of President Donald Trump on Thursday went all-out in supporting the chief executive’s legal fight to challenge vote counts in closely-contested states in the U.S. elections.
Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz raised warning that the Republican Party may reject the legitimacy of vote results if they turn against Trump, who is in a neck-and-neck battle with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
When asked about the controversial proposal, which has been floated by former White House executives in the past days, Graham, who is Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday that “everything should be on the table.”
State legislatures, under the United States Constitution, have the power to appoint electors to the electoral college. Republican legislators currently control North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
"Everything should be on the table" — Lindsey Graham won't rule out that Republican legislatures should invalidate the election results and (presumably) award their electoral votes to Trump pic.twitter.com/ykNdFCicZW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 6, 2020
He also took a swipe at the mainstream media, calling their polling “incompetent.”
Biggest losers of 2020 election cycle:
➡️ Mainstream media polling which was incompetent.
➡️ Mainstream media coverage of the Trump presidency which was deplorable.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) November 4, 2020
Senator Cruz, on the other hand, said the Department of Justice, state legislatures and even the Supreme Court could get involved in the election if voting laws are not followed.
Cruz also backed President Trump’s claim that election observers in Philadelphia are being denied access to observe the counting of ballots.
“I am angry. The American people are right to be angry. We need observers,” he tweeted.
