Republicans are divided on how to deal with Donald Trump’s attempts to steal the election by lying, encouraging his supporters to disrupt counting, and flooding the courts with baseless lawsuits. Some, like Sens. Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz, are enthusiastically joining in, spouting their own versions of Trump’s anti-democratic lies. A very few, like Sen. Mitt Romney and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, pushed back more or less immediately. Most chose silence and delay—though by Friday morning, some of the silence was breaking down.
“Here’s how this must work in our great country: Every legal vote should be counted,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted, trying frantically to balance between Trumpian talking points and the appearance of seriousness. “Any illegally-submitted ballots must not. All sides must get to observe the process. And the courts are here to apply the laws & resolve disputes. That's how Americans' votes decide the result.”
Not exactly full-throated “the election is being stolen from Trump” rhetoric, but by regurgitating Team Trump’s legal vs. illegal votes claims, McConnell tried to hedge his bets. He couldn’t just come out and defend the democratic process with his whole voice.
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey did a little better, telling the Today show’s Savannah Guthrie, “the president’s allegations of large-scale fraud and theft of the election are just not substantiated. I’m not aware of any significant wrongdoing here.”
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse came out with a typically self-important statement, but he did say “If the President’s legal team has real evidence, they need to present it immediately to both the public and the courts.”
But if Trump responds as expected to Joe Biden pulling ahead in Georgia and Pennsylvania, Republicans are going to need to get a lot stronger than these weak tea statements. If they want to be remembered as having—in the final, final moments—stood for democracy, they need to actually condemn what Trump is saying and doing, forcefully and with no weasel words. As it stands now, there’s no indication they’re prepared.