Republican Senator Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, said Tuesday that he will support the Electoral College to certify Joe Biden’s victory when Congress counts the vote on Wednesday and called his decision to reject Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the election “brutal.”
Cramer was asked during an interview on MSNBC about what led to his decision to back the Electoral College.
“It was brutal, to be honest,” Cramer said. “But at the end of the day, there are two things. One is my conscience is captive to God, and my oath is to the Constitution of the United States.”
Cramer said he never heard from Trump or the White House regarding his decision, but he spent “a lot of time” reviewing evidence and hearing from constituents and attorneys.
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“I’ve put a lot of intellectual rigor and emotion into this decision, so it doesn’t come easily,” he said. “But I also have to say I’m quite comfortable with it.”
Cramer’s comments come as roughly a dozen GOP senators have said they would object when Congress certifies the electoral vote Wednesday. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) was the first to say he plans to object, and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) is leading a coalition of eleven other senators supporting an objection until there is a 10-day audit.
Cramer, who’s from a state where President Trump is deeply popular, is one of a handful of GOP senators who said they would not object to the electoral vote.
The effort is likely to fail because Democrats control the House and several GOP senators have also said they would not go along with Trump’s crusade to subvert the will of the people.
