Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), an ally of former President Donald Trump, on Sunday did not commit to voting to certify the results of November’s election, as Republican lawmakers lay the groundwork to challenge their nominee’s potential defeat.
Two years ago, Congress passed an updated version of the Electoral Count Act, a bill that would make it harder for lawmakers to object to presidential election results and possibly prevent another riot like the one that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.
In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union,” Donalds did not outright answer whether Congress should follow the law as set out by the bill passed in 2022 when it comes to certifying the 2024 election.
“As long as states and jurisdictions follow election procedures in their states, there will be no problem for me or anybody on Capitol Hill,” Donalds said.
“Well, that’s a giant loophole that you’re leaving there,” CNN’s Dana Bash shot back.
Donalds went on to share baseless conspiracy theories that several states did not follow the law in 2020.
The CNN anchor fact-checked the GOP congressman, reminding viewers there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election despite Trump’s claims to the contrary and noting that the former president and his allies lost several court cases contesting the results.
Meanwhile, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Sunday said she worried House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) would not certify a potential Democratic victory.
“He has a record of repeatedly doing things that he knows to be wrong, that he knows to be unconstitutional, in order to placate Donald Trump,” she told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Donalds and Johnson were among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the election results in January 2021.
GOP officials have been laying the groundwork for contesting a potential Kamala Harris win, in part by also raising the threat of mass noncitizen voting, despite the fact that it’s illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal and state elections and there’s an absence of any evidence to suggest systematic fraud involving noncitizens.
“I think there is going to be some cheating in this election. I think noncitizens are going to vote,” Johnson told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
