Sen. Mike Lee said that much of the criticism surrounding his tweets on democracy have not accurately depicted his own beliefs.
The senator faced backlash for a few tweets he posted Wednesday night. At one point, the Utah Republican became the No. 4 trending topic on Twitter.
“Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and [prosperity] are,” he said in the post that gained the most attention. “We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.”
Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) October 8, 2020
On Thursday, Lee spoke to the Washington Examiner to explain his tweets in further detail.
“I get why people use the term,” he said. “I also understand why a lot of people would think of it as either a non-issue or not something to be concerned about, but as I think about it, I think it’s a big deal, because in many ways, the whole idea of having a constitution itself, particularly a constitution that establishes a constitutional republic like ours, is materially different and distinct from a democracy.”
He added that a constitutional republic helps protect minority groups.
“In a democracy, when society decides, ‘Hey, let’s have a national church. Everybody has to go to that church.’ If you’ve got a majority for that, it’s gonna be the law. In a constitutional republic like ours, it operates according to elections, and in that respect … you have democratic forces at play,” he continued. “But to think of it as a democracy, and to refer to it obsessively as ‘our democracy’ sends the wrong message.”
While Lee appeared to be directing this criticism, in particular, to those on the Left, it is not only Democrats who have used the word democracy in a favorable context.
In former President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 speech to commemorate the 40th anniversary of D-Day, he said, “Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.”
When asked about that quotation and others like it, Lee said, “In the mind of the speaker, it may just be that the speaker is viewing democracy as the counterpoint to an autocracy, to a despotic regime, one in which there is a distinction between the ruled and the ruler.”
He added, “So, if that’s what one is doing, then I suppose it makes more sense. It’s an easy shorthand way of referring to the distinction. What makes me nervous is when we refer over and over again, not in contradistinction to other forms of government, but when we refer obsessively to our own system of government as ‘our democracy.’ I think that can confuse people.”
Some on social media have suggested that the senator’s tweets show that he has an allegiance to fascism or tyranny.
“If what you wanted to establish was a more despotic form of government, if what you wanted was a fascist form of government, you could get there far more efficiently, far more completely, using a pure form of democracy than you could by going through a constitutional republic,” Lee said in response.
“There’s nothing more counter-fascist than a constitutional republic like ours.”
