Tribune. In 1824, the House of Representatives had to decide between the three candidates who won the presidential election, for lack of a majority in the electoral college. A supposed “corrupt deal” between the winner, the outgoing Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and the Speaker of the House, whom he chooses to replace him, then tainted the legitimacy of the election, destroyed the basis of the party. of which Adams was the heir, and led to the creation of the Democratic Party around General Andrew Jackson, an unsuccessful candidate who nevertheless won the popular vote.
Joe Biden won a majority in 2020, but several Republicans will nonetheless challenge the results during a session of Congress on January 6. This stubbornness prompted a representative from New Jersey to portray them as “Traitors”, while Fox News anchor Chris Wallace criticized Steve Scalise, number two in the House Republican group, for supporting the invalidation of “ million voices of [ses] American fellow citizens “.
The Georgian stake
That said, behind this partisan post-electoral fight hides a much more pragmatic strategy. The second round of senatorial elections in Georgia, on January 5, will determine the political color of the Senate. Seventy-eight percent of Republicans believe the election was not fair, leading the party to entertain the idea of a fraudulent ballot to keep Georgian voters engaged. After the surprise victory of Joe Biden in the State, they know that the participation will be decisive: two million ballots (26.8% of those registered) were already counted on December 24.
This rhetoric also helps keep donors engaged. Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have raised more than $ 100 million each in two months. Facing them, outgoing Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler lined up in the president’s media wake to raise funds. As a sign of the importance of these seats to the Biden presidency, residents of Texas and Florida contributed as much as Georgians. California six times more.
On December 22, the young Republican elected Madison Cawthorn (North Carolina) explained ” do not [contester l’élection] to help his career in Washington ”, because do it him “Will probably be harmful”. In the short term, it is on the contrary to its advantage. He is one of that generation of “Trump babies” who are fighting for the Trumpian legacy today. For Cawthorn, Jody Hice (Georgia) or the future Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama), contesting the results allows moreover to create a national profile.
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