Calls Republicans trying to overthrow election ‘shameful’
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
TRENTON — Gov. Phil Murphy blasted U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew and his fellow Republicans for trying to overturn the presidential election, calling it shameful and unpatriotic.
During his COVID-19 press conference Monday, Murphy spent a few minutes going off on the “shameful, dangerous, undemocratic and unpatriotic” congressional Republicans “who are openly and unabashedly working to undermine our constitutional norms … and to overthrow a free and fair election decided by the American people. An American president, sitting in the Oval Office, working the phones, to subvert American democracy for personal benefit.”
He lit into the U.S. senators and representatives who are opposing counting the electoral votes of a number of states Wednesday, Jan. 6, even though President-elect Joe Biden received 307 votes, more than the 270 required to be elected president. The vote is normally a formality but President Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede, making unsubstantiated allegations about fraud and that he won the November election. His attorneys have lost 59 of 60 court cases trying to overturn results in multiple states. Biden received more than 7 million more votes than Trump in the election.
The Wednesday vote is expected to fail because it would require a majority in both the House and Senate to reject the Electoral College vote. Democrats control the House and although the Senate has a narrow Republican majority, enough Republican senators have already said they would not support contesting the vote.
“Thankfully,” Murphy said, “there are enough Republicans in Congress to prevent the fevered dreams of a band of right-wing conspiracy theorists and their pathetic minions, like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, Representatives Louie Gohmert and Mo Brooks from succeeding.
“The voters have spoken. Our election officials have spoken. The courts have spoken. The Electoral College has spoken. That seemingly isn’t enough for those willing to overturn an election just because they can’t accept their guy lost decisively,” said Murphy, a Democrat.
“It pains me particularly to see one of our own representatives, Congressman Jeff Van Drew, cynically siding with conspiracy theorists and throwing his fate in with the far right’s disproven and crackpot theories. “If that’s the legacy Jeff wants, I guess ‘it is what it is.’”
The governor said he was amazed how few senior New Jersey Republicans have “done the right thing by acknowledging the true outcome of the election” and he blasted those who have.
“I know there are many more who privately share their misgivings about the rabbit hole their colleagues are preparing to drag our nation and the Constitution down. Their silence is equal to acquiescence. I commend the Republicans who have shown the courage of their convictions to say what’s right and I would put up two stellar examples — one of my predecessors, Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, and Assembly Republican Minority Leader John Bramnick.”
Murphy said the damage these Republicans are doing will hurt the nation and its work across the globe.
“We’ve lost something greater when simply acknowledging the will of the people after an election is considered courageous,” he said. “And shame on those who have not found a semblance of courage. Hopefully tomorrow will just be a day of noise and our Constitution will emerge intact, but this cowardly and reckless effort weakens our republic here at home and undermines America’s efforts to promote democracy around the world.”