Sen. Cruz: We Have an Obligation To Protect the Integrity of the Election
Appears on 'Hannity' to discuss Cruz-led effort to create 'Electoral Commission' to conduct an emergency audit of the presidential election returns
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ahead of today's Joint Session of Congress, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) appeared on Fox News' ‘Hannity' to discuss his efforts to establish an "Electoral Commission" to ensure that the 2020 presidential election was lawfully conducted.
WATCH: Cruz on Fox News: We Have an Obligation To Protect Our Democratic System & Defend the Rule of Law
On the need to protect the integrity of the election, Sen. Cruz said:
"We have an obligation, I believe, to protect the integrity of the election and to protect the integrity of the democratic system. And so last week, as you know, what I did is work to bring together a group of 11 senators. I spent about 24 hours just working the phones, calling my colleagues, and ultimately 10 of my colleagues joined with me. I intend to object tomorrow. All 11 senators are standing with me in that objection. And what the objection is for is to demand that we form an Electoral Commission that has the authority to investigate these claims of voter fraud, to consider the evidence, and to make determinations. These allegations are serious, and I've got to say there are far too many people in Washington who are saying, ‘Dismiss the claims out of hand don't look at them, don't consider them.' That Congress has to have a blindfold on. I don't think that's right. I think we have an obligation to the Constitution to defend the rule of law."
On the importance of restoring faith and confidence in our democratic system, Sen. Cruz added:
"We have an obligation to the country. You look at polling right now that shows that 39 percent of Americans believe the election was rigged. That's heartbreaking [and] that is in an enormous threat to the legitimacy of subsequent administrations. I think even if you're a member of Congress who doesn't necessarily believe that, I think those numbers should dismay you mightily. I think it's in everyone's interest for there to be a credible forum that is impartial, that has credibility, that can consider the evidence. What I'm calling for is an emergency 10 day audit. Just audit the results, consider the claims, look at the evidence. By doing it in 10 days we can complete it before January 20, before the presidential inauguration. I think that would help provide much greater faith and confidence in the election than simply charging forward and saying ‘Whatever the results are, whatever the fraud was, we're going to certify anyway.' I hope Congress doesn't do that. But right now, based on the public statements, it sure seems that's the direction the votes are going."
On his decision to call for the establishment of an Electoral Commission, Sen. Cruz said:
"The way I arrived upon this as I was really struggling with the choices that all the members were being faced [with], because we had two lousy choices. If a member of Congress votes against an objection, what an awful lot of voters are going to hear from that is that you don't think voter fraud is real. That it's serious. You don't think that it occurred in this election. That's obviously not right. And I've got to say most at least of the Republicans don't believe that. On the other hand, I think all of us understandably, and rightly, don't want to be voting to set aside the results of an election just because the candidate we happen to support didn't prevail. And so, I really looked for, alright is there another option?"
On the historical precedent for Congress to establish an Electoral Commission, Sen. Cruz said:
"What I did is I scoured history and scoured precedents. And I think the most apt precedent is the presidential election of 1876. That was the election between Rutherford B. Hayes the Republican and Samuel Tilden the Democrat. In that election there were, just like this election, serious allegations of voter fraud in three states: Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. And what did Congress do in 1877? Congress didn't throw up its hands and say, ‘We have no solution here we can't do anything, we've got to ignore these allegations of voter fraud.' No, what they did is they appointed an Electoral Commission. It consisted of five House members, five senators, and five U.S. Supreme Court justices. That commission was charged with reviewing the evidence and making a determination about the disputed ballots. What I'm urging is we should follow the 1877 precedent. When I made that pitch to my colleagues, at the end of the day, 10 other senators agreed with me."
Read more about Sen. Cruz's efforts to protect the integrity of our democratic system here and here.
LISTEN: Sen. Cruz on the Mark Levin Show: We Have an Obligation To Defend the Integrity of Our Elections
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