After House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy downplayed Trump’s staggering request, other Republicans rushed to his defense – and some refused to object to the president’s actions.
“I didn’t take part in the call,” said Minnesota Rep. Tom Emir, who heads the Republican campaign arm in the House of Representatives.
Representative Paul Gossard, a conservative Republican from Arizona who is joining his colleagues’ efforts to nullify the election results on Wednesday, said Trump’s call was a simple expression of “great disappointment”.
“Correct political speech is not doing well,” Gossar said when asked about Trump.
“I have no worries,” Jordan said. “But you guys in the press and the Democrats will always raise as big a problem as you did with calling Zelensky.”
Asked if Trump’s call might cut support for the Republican Party on Wednesday, Jordan said he would not. “We have got tremendous support and it’s growing,” he said. “And I think it will continue to grow.”
Republican Rep. Lee Zelden criticized the press when asked if he had any concerns about Trump’s hour-long call, which was taped and leaked to the media.
“I hope the reports on it are a full and honest discussion – as opposed to the one-sided view,” said Zeldin.
“I think our foreign minister has let Georgia down,” Green said. I think that the certification of our elections should be revoked. “
When asked if this would affect her and the other Republicans in Georgia, who were all elected on the same ballot, Green said: “We are only talking about the presidential race.”
But some Republicans have voiced their concerns, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, No. 3 in the Republican leadership who is also urging her colleagues to turn away from efforts to undermine the will of voters when Congress meets on Wednesday to count the electoral votes that made Biden. The winner of the race.
“I think it was very worrying,” Cheney told CNN of the call. “I think it was very disturbing, and I think everyone should listen to an hour full of that.”
“President Trump’s call with Georgia’s foreign minister, Brad Ravensberger, marks a new low in this entire unfortunate and sterile episode,” Tommy said in a statement. “I commend the Republican election officials across the country who have performed their duties impartially over the past two months while facing relentless pressure, misinformation, and attacks from the president and his campaign.”
Democrats also began discussing how to respond to Trump’s call on Monday.
Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, distributed a letter Monday to gather support for a resolution he intends to bring to blame and indict Trump for seeking to overturn election results in Georgia, Democratic sources told CNN on Monday. It remains to be seen whether the chamber will vote on the resolution, which would be a symbolic reprimand for the president.
The debate comes amid growing disagreement from the Republican Party ahead of the joint session of Congress on Wednesday, as Republicans in the House of Representatives are expected to object to the counting of the electoral votes elected by Biden. If at least one Republican member joins them, which is to be expected, each house will have to debate objections for up to two hours before voting on whether to confirm the objection. The election is destined to fail, but the moves could prolong the debate as lawmakers plan to push through objections to the six states that Trump has lost – and he’s already putting many Republicans in trouble.
Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman, who is slated for re-election in 2022, said on Monday that he would support Wednesday’s election ratification and oppose efforts by some of his fellow Republicans to challenge the vote.
“I plan to respect this oath by upholding state testimony and the will of the people. I will vote to ratify in line with my duty under the constitution,” Portman said in a statement. I cannot support letting Congress frustrate the will of the electorate.
“What I’ve read about – the president has always been concerned about the integrity of the election,” McCarthy said on Fox when asked about the Georgia call.
The majority of House Republicans can still join the effort to challenge the election. Imer, for example, won’t say whether he supports the challenge.
“I understand some senators will object – we’ll see how the debate goes,” Emmer said, adding that he would assess how the debate would go. “I will hear.”
New Jersey Representative Geoff Van Drew, a former Democrat-turned-Republican, has said he will join efforts to challenge the election results.
“Anytime only about 50% of the American public think an election is correct, something is wrong,” Van Drew said. Van Drew told that many voters do not believe the election was correct because Trump refused to accept the results, and said, “They don’t listen to everything he says. They do it because they think so.”
This story has been updated with additional developments on Monday.