WASHINGTON – When an upset voter charged her Tuesday night at a restaurant in the nation’s capital, Representative Nancy Mace faced an impossible task stemming from President Trump’s false promises: to make them understand why she and other Republicans in Congress not only the results of the election.
Driven by Trump’s fictitious allegations that the election was stolen from him – and that lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence could seize power for another four years during the official congressional term – the voter has all the way from Mrs. Mace’s home came from the state of South Carolina to witness. Now the voter, trembling and in tears, asked to know why me. Mace, a first-term congressman, refused to participate in the effort.
Calmly but determinedly, Mrs Mace tried to explain that it was not Congress’ role to undermine the outcome of an election – and that it would defy the Constitution.
“It didn’t matter what I said,” she said. Mace said in an interview. “They did not believe it.”
Similar scenes – sometimes painful, always insoluble – took place again and again in Washington this week in the hours before and after a violent mob led by Mr. Trump was urged, the Capitol stormed in, while Republican voters loyal to the president, Republican lawmakers who voted to confirm the outcome of the election, demand answers and take revenge.
The confrontations – and the ominous scenes that took place on Wednesday – brought Republicans face-to-face with the consequences of their long-standing alliance with Mr. Trump, who provides human proof of the disadvantage of his deep influence on the voters who form the basis of their party.
It helps to explain the inflammatory rage that led many Republicans to turn against Mr. Trump after years in which he enabled himself and sought his ratification. But it also reflects the mystery of the Republican Party, looking at voters who internalized the president’s lies and were encouraged by his divisions.
“Their hearts, minds and wallets were used,” she said. Mace said and her voice went up in rage. ‘Millions of people across the country have been lied to. These individuals, these hard-working Americans, truly believe that Congress can overthrow the Electoral College. ”
Many Republican congressmen put forward the conviction this week when they objected to the victory of Mr. Pray in the battlefields and support the challenges in voices illustrating the split of their party. In the House, more than half of the Republicans, including the party’s top two leaders, voted for the challenges, while fewer than ten Republicans in the Senate did so and the leaders were opposed to voting.
The videos that came to light dramatized the gaping distance between elected Republicans in Washington who are increasingly desperate to pull off the president and their constituents who say they will never let go.
On Friday, supporters of Mr. Trump Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, wormed in at his gate at Ronald Reagan National Airport and called him a “traitor.”
“You know it was witnessed, you know it was witnessed,” a woman shouted as he was led away by a security guard. ‘Your garbage man. It will be like this for the rest of your life, wherever you go. ”
A similar scene unfolded Tuesday night at Salt Lake City Airport as Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, sat waiting to fly to Washington. A maskless woman approached and called him a ‘disgusting disgrace’ because he did not stand with the president. After he was on board, Mr. Romney greeted by supporters of mr. Trump who “Traitor!”
Some Republicans, such as Senators Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Todd Young of Indiana, who both voted for the election of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. ratified, tried to reason with their constituents and work through their concerns point by point. scenes recorded on the video outside the Capitol.
The presidential transition
But Mr. Cramer and Young could not convince themselves that what the president and many of their Republican colleagues had told them was wrong – that there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the election, and no way for Congress to reverse the results. not.
” The vast majority of the people in this country are going to lose their trust in the government ” as Mr. Biden’s “fraudulent” victory is confirmed, a senior North Dakota man told Cramer on Tuesday. “I’m about to do it.”
By the end, neither party bowed, and there was nothing more to do, its voters decided, but to pray for the country and for the senator.
“I was just very sad,” he said. Cramer later said. ‘They think there’s a solution in this place for what worries them, and the reality is that there is not. They came all this way and thought the results could change if they spoke loud enough.
Mr Cramer argues that his constituents, like so many others, ‘believed because they wanted to believe’ that the result could still be overturned. But he showed a flash of frustration, referring to his twelve Republican colleagues who spearheaded the attempt to challenge Biden’s victory but would not admit it was not going to be successful.
“We need to be careful about what makes our people believe it is possible when we know it is not,” he said. Cramer said.
Mace said she hoped “the eyes of the American people could possibly be opened” after Wednesday’s violence, and that lawmakers, including her own party, would be more aggressive in shouting out falsehoods and dangerous language.
“I have been more outspoken than ever in the last 24 hours, and I did not intend to do that,” she said. Mace said. ‘But this is not the time to sit idly by and allow. It must stop, and enough is enough. ”
Whether Republican voters will listen, however, is a separate question. The crowd of rioters at the Capitol on Wednesday included white supremacists, people wearing and wearing Confederate symbols, and many people with ‘Q’ accessories indicating faith in the pro-Trump conspiracy movement QAnon, who falsely claims Trump is a satanic cabal of Democratic pedophiles.
Before the mob flew through the Capitol on Wednesday, Mr. Young confronted by a crowd wearing pro-Trump clothes outside a Senate office building.
“You must represent our opinion,” a woman complained to him.
“As far as the law is concerned, our opinions do not matter – the law does matter,” Young said. “I appreciate your opinion. I actually share your concerns. I share your belief that President Trump should remain president. I share the belief. ”
“The law is important to us!” one man shot back while others climbed in. “It does not matter to the Democrats.”
Mr. Young became furious.
“I lay down under God – under God!” Sê mnr. Young, his voice shaking with emotion. “Are we not taking this country seriously yet?”