Vice president Mike Pence on Tuesday urged a crowd of Trump supporters to “stay in the fight” for the election in a stunning escalation of Donald Trump team’s false voter fraud rhetoric.
Pence’s fiery speech alarmed political experts who see the president’s attempts to overturn the election result as a direct assault on our democracy.
As required by federal law, Congress must meet Jan. 6 to open the sealed certificates from each state containing a record of their electoral votes. At that time, bipartisan representatives from both chambers read the results out loud and conduct an official count.
The president of the Senate, in this case Vice President Mike Pence, then presides over the session and declares the winner from the official tally.
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However, if Pence makes the decision not to announce the winner as President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris? The country will descend into an unprecedented political crisis.
As noted by the Associated Press, “The role of the vice president as presiding officer is often an awkward one, as it will be for Pence, who will be charged with announcing Biden’s victory — and his own defeat — once the electoral votes are counted. It will be especially tense for the former Indiana congressman as his boss, Trump, has refused to concede.”
But a growing number of Republicans are admitting that any effort to undermine the constitution to keep Trump in power will be “futile.”
“I think there comes a time when you have to realize that, despite your best efforts you’ve been unsuccessful,” Texas Sen. John Cornyn told reporters, saying he hopes anyone entertaining the idea of an objection would realize that it “would be futile and it’s unnecessary.”
Watch the video below.
Vice President Mike Pence: "[Democrats] want to make rich people poorer, and poor people more comfortable." pic.twitter.com/LXB8pvKSR8
— The Hill (@thehill) December 22, 2020
