Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Willsboro) delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.
Jan 07, 2021 — This was a historic week for the nation and the North Country. On Monday, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik announced her plans to object during the electoral count on Wednesday.
During that count, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, damaging federal property and stalling the count. Congress ultimately certified Biden’s victory early Thursday, despite Stefanik and other Republicans' objections.
To help us understand the significance of Stefanik’s objection to the electoral count and her loyalty to Trump even as many Republicans are breaking ranks, Emily Russell spoke with Shana Gadarian, a political science professor at Syracuse University.
RUSSELL: I just want to start off by getting your reaction to what happened on Wednesday. What was going through your mind as we were watching this mob of Trump supporters storming the Capitol?
GADARIAN: As many Americans were, I was extremely disturbed by the scenes that the Capitol yesterday. The peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of any democratic system and our strong democratic system. And it was really tested yesterday by a violent mob, trying to stop the counting of the electoral college vote.
RUSSELL: Even after the violence, President Trump continued to make baseless claims about how the election was stolen from him. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said she still had objections to electors, specifically in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
"In Georgia," Stefanik said from the House floor on Wednesday, "there was constitutional overreach when the Secretary of State unilaterally and unconstitutionally gutted signature matching for absentee ballots, and in essence, eliminated voter verification required by state election law."
RUSSELL: This claim has been debunked, it's not true. Why do you think Stefanik would make a baseless claim like that?
GADARIAN: I think that Stefanik has kind of thrown her lot in with the President. We saw that during the impeachment trial and we've seen that, you know, if you've hooked your star to the Trump part of the Republican Party, then essentially you've sworn to loyalty claims that he's making because that's what it means to show loyalty is to say that I'm going to back you up with these claims that have no basis, in fact, and that have been debunked not by just by fact-checkers in journals, but also by courts of law.
RUSSELL: It's interesting because also on Wednesday we saw Republicans who had planned to object not follow through with that. We also saw top party leaders like Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, and Mike Pence call for their party to respect the voters and respect the courts.
"They said the Secretary of State [of Georgia] took the law in his own hands, he changed the election laws unlawfully. A federal judge said 'No.' I accept the federal judge, even though I don't agree with it," Graham said.
RUSSELL: So what does it mean that, as so many Republicans backed away on Wednesday, Stefanik stayed loyal to Trump? Is that a big break in the party? Or is she kind of moving in the future of the Republican Party?
GADARIAN: I think that is the big question. I don't know where Stefanik will go once Trump is out of power, but there is clearly a kind of room in the party for populism, but there's not room for both populism and the kind of big business corporate [Republicanism]. It's kind of an unhealthy relationship at this point. You know, it's one thing to support the President in the impeachment trial, it's kind of another to say that millions of their fellow citizens have their votes stripped from them, and that Trump should be able to stay in power, regardless of what the American public says.
RUSSELL: Does her action and other actions of Republicans who objected, does that action have a lasting impact?
GADARIAN: Yeah, absolutely. So the lasting impact is to undermine trust in the electoral system and the whole premise of democracy, which is that the people have a say and that the people, the majority, who wins gets to install their leadership. If your argument is that people who don't vote for the party that you are a member of are illegitimate and that the voting system is rigged, then you start to undermine the trust in the very bedrock of what democratic governance is. And that's really dangerous.
RUSSELL: How do you see this playing out for someone like Stefanik? She's kind of this rising star in the Republican Party, she's got a lot of money, she's built a powerful national political network. Do you think this vote stays with her redefines her? Or do you think she can go back to describing herself as a bipartisan young leader of the GOP?
GADARIAN: I think that kind of image is going to be harder for Stefanik at this point. I think she's really kind of set her course as being part of this kind of Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz part of the Republican party at this point, and it will be harder to say, 'I work in a bipartisan way.' That doesn't necessarily mean you'll be voted out, but it will mean that you have chosen sides at this point.
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