The Electoral College meets today in all 50 states to name President-elect Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. There is nothing President Trump can do to change this result, though he still seems to think otherwise.
One of Trump’s top advisers, Stephen Miller, announced on Monday that Trump created his own group of electors to cast their votes on Monday. He then plans to send this group’s votes to Congress, presumably alongside the actual Electoral College’s votes, when the legislative body meets on Jan. 6 to certify the Electoral College’s decision.
“We have more than enough time to right the wrong of this fraudulent election result and certify Donald Trump as the winner of the election,” Miller said.
Stephen Miller on Fox & Friends says “an alternative” group of electors is also voting today:
“As we speak, an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote and we are going to send those results to Congress.”pic.twitter.com/5kIkfsbOFw
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) December 14, 2020
To be clear, there is no “alternate” group of electors. There is only one body of electors, according to the Constitution, and it is the one that plans to elect Biden on behalf of the 50 states. Nothing in the Constitution, or the states’ electoral processes, allows for a different group to step in and offer its own option. But this is exactly what Trump’s team plans to do, according to Miller.
This comes after reports that Trump tried to convince Republican state legislators in key battleground states, such as Michigan, to choose Trump-friendly electors who would defy their state’s popular vote and elect him instead of Biden. Thankfully, Republican legislators refused.
Trump’s attempts to circumvent the electoral process are bound to fail, but that doesn’t make them any less diabolical. Yes, he will leave office, but only after convincing millions of people that they’ve been disenfranchised while trying to disenfranchise millions of others. This reckless behavior could do lasting damage to a democratic system that relies on the smooth transition of power and cultural stability.
The congressional GOP should follow the example of Republican state legislators who have stood up to Trump and reject the president’s continued attempts to overturn Biden’s win. When Trump sends his “alternate” group of electors to the House and Senate on Jan. 6, Republicans should pay them no mind. And when Trump asks them to intervene and challenge the Electoral College’s decision during Congress’s joint session, Republicans should ignore him and allow the electoral process to move forward without interruption.
Republicans are, after all, bound not to the musings of one man but to this country’s constitutional order. It’s time they start acting like it.
