McConnell Warns Congressional Republicans to Respect Electoral College Decision

Donald Trump has not been all that thrilled with Mitch McConnell over these last few days, and the latest from the Senate Majority Leader surely isn’t going to get him back in the President’s good graces.

Trump has been adamant that the 2020 election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud and possible corruption within the vote-counting apparatuses themselves.  These claims have exposed a rather deep divide within the Republican Party, with a number of prominent members of the GOP distancing themselves from the President’s insinuations as of late.  This includes McConnell, who formally, and for the first time, referred to Joe Biden as the President-elect during a speech on Tuesday.

McConnell is now taking this sentiment a step further, and attempting to wrangle his fellow Republicans in the process. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly urged GOP senators to refrain from objecting to electoral votes when it comes time to count them in Congress next month, making the remarks on a caucus call Tuesday.

McConnell, who formally recognized Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president-elect and vice president-elect on Tuesday, reportedly told colleagues that an objection “isn’t in the best interest of everybody,” per the Hill:

McConnell warned that any GOP senator who signed onto a House Republican objection to a state’s electoral votes would then force the Senate to debate and vote on the objection, putting fellow GOP senators in a bad position.

McConnell was not the only Republican leader to make the request, with Republican Whip Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Rules Committee Chairman Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) making the same call, though there is no indication, currently, that any GOP senators plan to object to the results.

Just hours later, Senator Rand Paul made mention of the 2020 election scandal during a congressional hearing, lamenting that “fraud” occurred, but also stating the the best course of action was to protect future elections, making no mention of adjudicating this one.