Republican senator Josh Hawley is facing criticism after he said Wednesday he will formally object to the Electoral College results, challenging President-elect Joe Biden's victory. As CNN reports, the Missouri senator said he "cannot vote to certify the Electoral College results on Jan. 6" due to allegations that some states, specifically Pennsylvania, had "failed to follow their own state election laws."
President-elect Biden defeated Trump with 306 electoral votes to 232, but Hawley is joining Rep. Mo Brooks by planning to object the results when Congress is set to certify the 2020 election. The move will force Republican leaders across both sides of the Capitol to debate the results of at least Pennsylvania, and possibly more states, and vote on whether they will accept Biden's victory. This is a situation that Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has wanted to avoid, urging Republicans not to waste time in order to protect 2022 incumbents from making a decision they would later regret.
Hawley's decision to object to the Electoral College results won't impact the outcome of the election, with many GOP senators already accepting a Biden victory, but it will delay the certification. Every member of the House and Senate will need to affirm Biden's win on record. Trump has continued to challenge the election results in his last days in the White House, and has deemed any Republican not supporting him as "weak."
His move even prompted a since-deleted tweet from the official Walmart account, which tweeted, "Go ahead. Get your 2 hour debate. #SoreLoser." Hawley responded to the tweet with his usual self-congratulatory snark, suggesting the person who posted it "insulted 75 million Americans." Walmart apologized for the tweet, but not before the MAGA crowd vowed to never shop there ever again.
Check out reactions to Hawley below.
