WATCH: Joe Biden Overruled Democratic Objections to Electoral College Certification for President-Elect Trump in 2017
With the Electoral College certification vote of President-elect Joe Biden just one week away—and threats of objections running rampant—it is instructive to look back at the same Congressional procedure from four years ago. Turns out that many House Democrats also objected to the certification of then-President-elect Donald Trump, but were quickly overruled and sometimes mocked by none other than then-Vice President Biden, who was presiding over the process.
Senator Josh Hawley announced on Wednesday that he plans to object to the Congressional Electoral College certification procedure on January 6th, ensuring a debate over the results of the Election 2020. This move was praised by Trump’s loyal base of supporters, but skeptics saw this as something of a craven ploy for attention and to appease the MAGA set for a potential 2024 White House run.
During an evening appearance on Fox News, Hawley defended his planned objection, noting that Democrats did the same thing in the 2017 certification procedure for then-President-elect Trump. “I don’t hear the Democrats making outrageous claims when they were the ones who were objecting electoral college certification in 2004 and 2016,” he told host Will Cain. “Democrats have done this for years to raise concerns about integrity.” Hawley then tweeted the clip, which you can see below.
Hawley is right here that Democrats objected, evidence by the YouTube video embedded above. The 2017 certification vote was a raucous occasion as it was interrupted multiple times, not just by Congressional objections but also by protesters. CNN reported that Biden was interrupted 11 times by objections, all of whom were presented by House Democrats who cited what they saw to be an unfair election due to either Russian interference or voter suppression.
Who were the members of Congress that objected? Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts rose to object to the certificate from Alabama. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland rose to object to 10 of Florida’s 29 electoral votes. Washington’s Rep. Pramila Jayapal objected to Georgia’s vote certificate.
“It is over,” Biden told the congresswoman.
Rep. Barbara Lee of California, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and Arizona’s Rep. Raul Grijalva objected, to which a visibly agitated Biden replied “There is no debate. There is no debate. There is no debate.”
As CNN reported at the time:
The states were counted, but three protestors started yelling from the visitors’ gallery of the chamber. At least one of them was reciting the Constitution as he was taken away by security.
Biden did not look thrilled.
But at the end of the day, despite the objections, Trump’s election was certified by Congress.
Fast forward to January 6, 2021, and we will likely see similar objections from many House and Senate Republicans in light of President Trump’s baseless claims that he lost the 2021 election because it was rigged or stolen. Over 100 House Republicans signed on to a Texas court filing seeking to overturn results in several swing states that was swiftly rejected by the Supreme Court.
Hawley later defended his objectionable actions by noting that “74 million Americans have concerns about election integrity and we are supposed to sit down and shut up? Somebody has to stand up here. You have 74 million Americans who feel disenfranchised, who feel like their vote doesn’t matter.”
But as Democratic Senator Chris Murphy recently pointed out during an appearance on CNN, Hawley’s reasoning is circular logic. Murphy mocked Hawley’s claim that “we should talk about this because everyone thinks the election was rigged,” but then parroted the Missouri Senator for also telling his constituents, “By the way, the election was rigged.” In other words, this is nothing but a circular logic of investigating the very election distrust that many have been sowing.
