On Jan. 6, a joint session of Congress certified the election victory of Donald Trump. For the first time in 1988, no Democrat questioned the legitimacy of a Republican president being elected.
Vice President Kamala Harris, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) presided over a session where 312 Electoral Votes were certified to Trump and the Vice-President-elect J.D. Vance during a session lasting about 30 minutes. Texas’s forty electoral votes, which were certified alphabetically, ultimately placed Trump and Vance above the 270 vote threshold with 289.
The absence of drama from Democrats in the certification of a Republican President broke the decades-long tradition that the party had of denying election results, as it had done in 2004, 2000, and 2016. Last time Democrats didn’t challenge the results of an election won by a Republican president was during the certification of George H.W. Bush’s victory in 1988.
Harris released video prior to the certification. She said, “Today I will fulfill my constitutional duty as vice president to certify the election results for 2024.” This is a sacred duty that I will fulfill guided by my love for country, loyalty to the Constitution, and unwavering belief in the American people.
Nevertheless, Democrats have in the past made unfounded claims that Republicans won elections. Some of these claims were fueled by anger over losing the Electoral College votes, while winning the popular vote, which doesn’t affect presidential elections.
In 2001, Democrats claimed the U.S. Supreme Court had “selected” President George W. Bush after the Bush V. Gore ruling. Several Democrats challenged the Florida electoral vote count, including former Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla. who said there was “overwhelming proof of official misconduct and deliberate fraud” as well as an attempt to suppress voting.
Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) both claimed that Florida’s electoral vote was “fraudulent.”
In 2001, no senators joined with the Democrat House Members (federal law required at least one senator and representative to object before a challenge could be considered). However, by 2005, former Sen. Barbara Boxer of California and former Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio joined forces in formally objecting to Ohio’s Electoral Votes, despite Bush winning the state by more than 100,000 votes.
Waters, a former representative from California, also voiced her objection. Former Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said “the democratic process had been thwarted” and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) claimed voting rights had been “stolen”. Boxer and 31 House members voted against Ohio’s will.
The Democrats’ most fervent attempt to undermine elections was in 2017, when electors from 9 states were confronted with objections, and Democrats such as Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) advanced wild conspiracy theories regarding “the confirmed illegal activities of the Russian government.”
Russia collusion was a hoax that led to many Democrats making false claims about the Russian interference in the election. Barbara Lee challenged Michigan’s electoral vote at the time because she said that “people were horrified by the overwhelming proof of Russian interference in our election.” She also cited “the malfunctioning of 87 voting machine.”
Hakeem Jeffries of New York, House Minority leader, boasted last week in his speech for the speaker election that Democrats believed in election results, but on many occasions , he tried to deny the outcomes of the 2016 elections, telling Trump “history won’t accept you as a legitim president.”
Jeffries also claimed in other social media posts that “the more we learn about 2016 election, the more ILLEGITIMATE” it becomes. America deserves to know whether we have a FAKE President in the Oval Office #RussianInterference.” He also wrote in 2018, “LIE (more than any administration in the history of the Republic). CHEAT (2016 elections/Russian interference). “STEAL (one Supreme Court seat or two).
It is still unclear how many Democrats will attend Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, as many did last year because they denied the election results.
More than 60 Democrats boycotted the inauguration at that time in protest against Trump’s victory, including election-deniers Hastings Waters Nadler and Barbara Lee. They were led by John Lewis, a former congressman.
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