In a call Thursday with Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his Jan. 6 vote certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election will be “the most consequential I have ever cast.”
McConnell referred to the procedural event as “a vote of conscience.”
Axios reported that “a source paraphrased McConnell as saying, ‘I’m finishing 36 years in the Senate and I’ve cast a lot of big votes,” including on war and impeachment.
“And in my view, just my view,” McConnell said, “this is will be the most consequential I have ever cast.”
“The context was McConnell saying we’re being asked to overturn the results after a guy didn’t get as many electoral votes and lost by 7 million popular votes,” the source told Axios.
McConnell’s conference call followed a somewhat surprise move earlier in the week by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) who defied McConnell’s wishes and publicly declared his objection to certifying the electoral votes.
“Any member of the House, joined by a member of the Senate, can contest the electoral votes on Jan. 6. The challenge prompts a floor debate followed by a vote in each chamber,” The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. “Trump will inevitably lose that vote, given that Democrats control the House and a number of Senate Republicans have publicly recognized Biden’s victory, including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who has called Trump’s refusal to accept the election dangerous.”
If Trump’s temper tantrum ultimately prevailed in the Senate where Vice President Pence would be in position to cast a tie-breaking vote, the Democratic-controlled House would halt any further action benefiting the current administration and thus hand another victory to Biden.