LFC

The 2024 Republican presidential primary field may be large, unless President Trump hangs around. Ironically, potential GOP contenders have increased the chances that Trump will return by refusing to call out his unconstitutional assault on the sanctity of our elections and his embrace of deranged conspiracy theories.

Let’s say Trump does not run again. When Republican candidates such as Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) come around looking for support, the country should dismiss them out of hand. They repeatedly failed basic tests of citizenship — let alone leadership — forfeiting their moral authority to serve in any government position.

Let us recall what they did and did not do (and for brevity, let’s just stick to the year 2020):

• When evidence was replete of Trump’s impeachable acts, they refused to call witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton and acquitted Trump.
  
• When evidence came to light that Trump had been informed of Russian bounties on the heads of U.S. troops, but repeatedly refused to raise the issue with President Vladimir Putin during phone calls, they did not insist on hearings, condemn Trump for dereliction of duty or ever demand a satisfactory explanation.
  
• When Trump attempted in advance to delegitimize the election, falsely claiming absentee ballots were inherently fraudulent, they did not denounce him as undermining our democracy.
  
• When the postmaster general’s conflicts of interest and deliberate slowdowns at the U.S. Postal Service came to light, they did not demand his resignation.
  
• When we learned that Trump told The Post’s Bob Woodward that covid-19 was an airborne virus much more dangerous than the flu — while telling the public something entirely different — they did not demand an investigation or condemn the president’s actions.
  
• When Trump denigrated mask-wearing; held packed rallies during a pandemic; took his Secret Service detail for a spin around Walter Reed National Military Medical Center despite having covid-19; held likely superspreader events at the White House; and failed to take proper precautions for White House staff, leading to scores of sick employees, they were AWOL.
  
• When Trump filed dozens of spurious lawsuits and presented baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, they did not cry foul or insist the presidential transition get underway. Instead, they suggested the lawsuits should work their way through the system.
  
• When Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) contacted Georgia’s secretary of state and allegedly suggested he throw out some ballots, they did not criticize him or call for any inquiry.
  
• When Trump contacted a member of the Wayne County, Mich., canvassing board after her vote to certify the results (after which she attempted to retract her vote), they did not admonish the president or warn him against interfering with local officials.
  
• When he called Michigan lawmakers to the White House, apparently to pressure them into putting forward a competing slate of electors for him rather than for the rightful winner in the state (by about 150,000 votes), they did not object.
  
• When Trump and his lawyers specifically targeted heavily African American cities in an effort to disenfranchise them, they were quiet.
  
• When it became clear that Trump had no legitimate legal claims and was trying to undo the results of a democratic election by getting state officials to thwart the will of the people, they were mute.

At every turn, these Republicans proved themselves incapable of putting country or democracy over Trump. Through their silence, they were complicit in undermining democratic elections and convincing the base that the election was stolen. They failed their basic obligations as citizens of a democracy and their oaths of office that obligate them to defend the Constitution.

It is hard to imagine any individuals less fit to serve as president — any individuals not named “Trump,” that is.

President Donald Trump was suffering under a 2-35 win/loss rate for his election lawsuits, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just changed that.

According to Democratic attorney Marc Elias, “Pennsylvania Supreme Court AFFIRMS our 5 victories in Philadelphia and REVERSES our one loss in Allegheny County.”

The suit was attempting to throw out ballots legally cast.

Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox on Monday asked the Board of State Canvassers not to certify the 2020 election results as scheduled because Republicans were “disrespected.”.

Cox appeared as a witness as the board was considering whether to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the state. Under state law, the board must certify the results before the close of Monday’s meeting.

“I’m asking you to delay certification,” Cox told the board’s four members. “There are too many questions that need to be answered regarding this election, too many numerical anomalies and credible reports of procedural irregularities. We need to remove the distrust and the sense of procedural disenfranchisement felt by many Michigan voters.”

“Every step of the election process has been stacked against Republicans,” she continued. “The majority of election officials treated all challengers regardless of party with dignity and respect and let them participate meaningfully in the process.”

But according to Cox, one polling location was “inhospitable and hostile” to Republican poll watchers.

“The reaction from the secretary of state, the attorney general and partisan Democrats has been antagonistic, belligerent and disrespectful,” Cox complained. “I also will not let Republican challengers be disrespected and shoved out of the process.”

“I will continue to stand up for Republicans and demand that they be respected,” she concluded.

Michigan held its electors’ meeting to certify the state’s election on Monday, only to be flooded with conspiracy theories. At the same time, a Republican member of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers even pushed the false idea that he can refuse to certify the election.

At one point, former Michigan Republican Sen. Patrick Colbeck ranted that electronic voting “computers were connected to the internet.” He alleged that because tabulators were connected they were “attempting to subvert the election and hide the fact that they were doing so.”

Democratic member, Julie Matuzak, finally cut into his rant telling Colbeck “If you have evidence of fraud, have you submitted it to the Attorney General?”

Colbeck said he hasn’t submitted anything to the attorney general.

The AG announced that she never received any complaint or any evidence of fraud and that had her office heard such a complaint they would certainly investigate.

Former secretary of state John Kerry signed the 2015 Paris Agreement on behalf of the United States, a decision subsequently reversed by President Donald Trump.

Now, he is set to be President-elect Joe Biden’s climate envoy, in a clear sign of the upcoming administration’s renewed commitment to fighting climate change.

“I’m returning to government to get America back on track to address the biggest challenge of this generation and those that will follow,” Kerry tweeted shortly after his appointment.

Thomas Brunell — a controversial redistricting researcher who was floated and then withdrawn from consideration to lead the Census Bureau earlier in the Trump administration — has been named to an advisory committee for the census, according to a person familiar with the appointment.

The installation of Brunell — who published a book in 2008 called “Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections Are Bad for America” — ratifies concerns that the census is being politicized even in the waning days of the Trump administration.

The committee Brunell is being named to, the Census Scientific Advisory Committee, meets once or twice a year usually and gives recommendations for how the Census Bureau should carry out its key functions. Brunell’s term on the committee will last until November 2023.

When word got out Brunell was being considered in 2017 to lead the Bureau, his apparent lack of relevant statistical or government experience drew criticisms from census stakeholders, including the civil rights community.