OPINION: Democrats Discuss — Republicans are trying to undermine our democracy
Cameron Shank is a junior studying political science. He is a member of the Ohio University College Democrats. The following article reflects the opinions and views of the author and does not represent the thoughts of the Ohio University College Democrats.
This is a submitted column. Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.
After the defeat of President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, Republicans around the country have been trying to undermine our democracy.
On Dec. 11, 2020, the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit in which the state of Texas argued that the states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin used the COVID-19 pandemic to usurp their legislative authority and state election laws to delegitimize the election results. The Supreme Court stated, “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections.”
We not only saw Texas file a lawsuit against the electoral votes of these four states, but we also saw several states join the Texas lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election. Republicans also tried to overturn the electoral results in Congress.
On Jan. 6, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate met jointly to certify the electoral college. That day, Republicans from the House and Senate vowed to object to the certification of the electoral college votes for the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on the ground that fraud had taken place.
Also happening that day was Trump’s political rally called “Save America” where he used the same old rhetoric since he lost the election: false claims of widespread voter fraud and the media lying to cover it up.
Later in his speech he talked about marching to the Capitol, saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them, because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
He also talked about how the rules do not apply when you have what he and some other Republicans alleged as fraud occurring, saying, “When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.”
After his speech, thousands of Trump supporters broke into the Capitol, looting, rioting and breaking into the Senate chambers and the Speaker of the House’s office, all while demanding the election results be overturned. The insurrection led to five deaths, including a Capitol police officer, and hundreds of injuries. During this time, House and Senate members were evacuated from the building. They reconvened hours later after the Capitol Police and National Guard cleared the building.
Even after the riots hours before, 147 Republicans still voted to object to the certification of the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania due to allegations of fraud.
The most notable Republicans to vote for the objections were House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. These efforts not only damaged our democracy but also further divided us as a country that is already so polarized when it comes to politics.