Public Citizen Statement on GOP's Efforts to Overturn Election Results

Congress today will count and certify the Electoral College votes, formally confirming Joe Biden as President of the United States. Republicans in both chambers plan to object to the count and delay the inevitable certification of President-elect Joe Biden's win -- a victory that was affirmed by the Electoral College last month. The following statement was released by Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, ahead of the vote:

"Today, America is likely to witness a dozen or more U.S. Senators and more than 100 Members of Congress aid and abet an effort to undertake a coup.

"That this is purely a theatrical display, given the certainty of failure, does little to mitigate the moral culpability of the coup abettors. Nor does the fact that, after the Georgia run-off election, this ploy looks a lot less politically savvy than it appeared 24 hours earlier.

"None of the U.S. Senators and virtually none of the House members actually believe that Trump won the election or has any valid claim of widespread election improprieties. That truth underscores the severity of their seditious conduct: they don't believe in the merits of what they are doing, their actions are an anti-democratic play for power.

"Soon enough, this distressing episode in American history will be behind us - but its corrosive impact will remain. Tens of millions of Americans have been fooled into believing the election was stolen, undermining not just their belief in our flawed democracy, but their commitment to democracy itself.

"This is a frighteningly dangerous state for the nation. It portends ongoing and perhaps worsening disunity at a time when we need to come together to fight the pandemic and address other great challenges. And it threatens the creation of an enduring quasi-fascist movement perpetuating racist violence, conspiratorial thinking and serious perils for a functioning democracy."