Congress and the Senate will be formally counting the electoral votes cast for Joe Biden this week, further affirming his victory. In light of the plans of Donald Trump’s allies to object to the results, former House Speaker Paul Ryan is among the Republicans speaking out against the actions.
Ryan released a statement over the weekend weighing in on the recent public announcements made by several Congressional and Senate Republicans who will plan on opposing the results. The former house speaker criticized the move, echoing the arguments made by his fellow GOP colleagues who have condemned the votes to object. Ryan also cited that Trump and his campaign had a lot of time to be able to provide evidence of voter fraud or election misconduct. The lawsuits filed in the swing states that went to Biden were largely unsuccessful, including the two filed to the Supreme Court.
“Efforts to reject the votes of the Electoral College and sow doubt about Joe Biden’s victory strike at the foundation of our republic,” wrote Ryan. “It is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of a state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans.”
The former House Speaker’s statement also comes at the major revelation of a recorded phone conversation between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In the audio recordings that surfaced, Trump could be heard pleading to have the election results in the state overturned in his favor. Trump was also heard asking Raffensperger to “find” the votes necessary to give him the win.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney is among the lawmakers who have condemned the actions of the group of Republican senators including Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, and Josh Hawley in his own statement. Romney described the plan as “egregious” and is among the Republican Senators who have made public that they will be voting to affirm Biden’s win rather than object to the results. It should be noted that their objections to the results will inevitably fail and Biden will be sworn into office as the new president on January 20.