Where Do FL Republican Leaders Stand On Biden’s Confirmation?

FLORIDA — With Congress meeting Wednesday to count and certify electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election, many Republicans consider it one final chance to overturn the results.

President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders have laid their hopes on Vice President Mike Pence, pushing for him to block President-Elect Joe Biden’s win. Pence has reportedly told Trump that he doesn’t have the power to do this.

Since Election Day, Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly tweeted that the election was fraudulent in key states, including Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The president and his supporters have even filed more than 50 lawsuits in their quest to invalidate Biden’s win.

Though these efforts failed, in Wednesday’s last gasp, Republican members of the House and Senate plan to vote against certifying Biden’s election. At least 140 House Republicans and a dozen Republican senators are expected to challenge the Electoral College result.

And several elected officials from Florida are part of this movement. One of these officials is House Rep. Matt Gaetz, who represents Florida’s first district.

“All eyes are on Jan. 6,” he said in a December Fox News interview. “I suspect there will be a little bit of debate and discourse in the Congress as we go through the process of certifying the electors. We still think there is evidence that needs to be considered.”

On Wednesday morning, he tweeted, “States that cheat and steal elections should be stripped of electors.”

Gaetz also tweeted, “Expose the fraud!”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, several Republican lawmakers from Florida signed onto a joint statement led by Rep. Mike Johnson from Louisiana signaling their intent to object to electoral votes from states they believe violated the Constitution during the 2020 election.

Among those who signed the statement are Scott Franklin of Lakeland, Bill Posey of Rockledge, John Rutherford of Jacksonville, W. Gregory Steube of Sarasota, Michael Waltz of St. Johns County and Daniel Webster of Winter Garden.

“We have a solemn responsibility to ensure the integrity of our elections,” Steube said in a statement he issued Wednesday. “As elected officials we need to address the Constitutional violations and irregularities that have marred this election. At all levels of government, the United States relies on the faith the American people have in our electoral system. If we ignore and fail to investigate blatant improprieties in these four closely contested states, we let honest votes be altered, lost, or cancelled out by fraudulent votes. Without taking on this challenge to assure an honest election, we would irreparably fail our constituents - and country - now and into the future.”

Posey also issued a statement Sunday about the election results.

“Reports of massive voter fraud and the locking out legal election observers must be investigated immediately by the Department of Justice,” he said. “The right to vote is not only a Constitutional Right, but a civil right, and must be protected. Running fair and transparent elections is something America must live up to.”

On New Year’s Day, Rutherford announced his intentions to object to Biden’s win on Twitter.

“On January 6, I will join my colleagues in objecting to any electors from states where serious allegations of election fraud exist and, in some cases, civil litigation remains pending,” he tweeted. “However, state legislators hold absolute authority over their electoral process, and it is their responsibility to acknowledge that election anomalies in their states were too create to certify their electors.”

Newly elected Franklin, in a statement released the day after his inauguration, said, "Following the election, there has been a lack of transparency in counting votes in several states that merit closer scrutiny. For that reason, I will join my Republican colleagues in challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election to ensure that there is a fair election process that counts every legally casted vote."

Meanwhile, Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott haven’t indicated whether they’ll challenge the results.