Devin Nunes does ‘tremendous damage’ to U.S. democracy by rejecting two states’ votes

In December 2019, Devin Nunes said this to the Washington Times: “Tremendous damage has been done to the democratic republic like we have never seen. They used impeachment for political purposes.”

The context was the impeachment proceedings against President Trump in the House of Representatives. Nunes, the Tulare Republican congressman, was a key defender of Trump during those hearings.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday, when Congress began sessions to certify the November presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Shortly after that began, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing Nunes and his colleagues to find shelter from the rioting.

Mere hours later, after the Capitol was ransacked but cleared out, the certifying sessions resumed. And Nunes joined six other Republicans from California in voting to dispute the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania — two battleground states won by Biden.

That effort ultimately was shot down by the full House, which certified the Electoral College vote. And Biden is moving forward to inauguration on Jan. 20.

But the meaning of Nunes’ action was clear: While Nunes claims the Democrats he despises are a threat to the American republic, he and his GOP colleagues are the ones who actually do tremendous damage to our democracy when they oppose the will of the people. They kowtow to the desires of a president who incited the seditious behavior of the rioters.

It was just the latest shameful example of why Nunes is unfit for office.

Riot, then silence

What sort of statement did Nunes offer in the wake of the rioting?

None.

Instead, silence.

As Kate Irby in McClatchy’s Washington Bureau reported: “Nunes during and after the riot did not post any statements to his Facebook, Twitter or Parler pages about the violence. His office did not respond to a request for comment.”

Even Kevin McCarthy, the Bakersfield Republican and minority leader in the House who is a staunch Trump lieutenant, issued a reaction to the rioting, condemning the violent pro-Trump activists as “unAmerican” as he pleaded for help to quell the vandalism and desecration.

Lest there be any remaining confusion about the election results, no Trump challenge has succeeded in overturning any state’s tally.

Rep. Tom McClintock, the Elk Grove Republican who represents Sierra foothill towns in Fresno and Madera counties, voted to certify the election results of both states.

McClintock and The Bee are usually on opposite ends of the issues, but in this instance, his view was spot-on. He warned that throwing out the states’ electoral votes could set a dangerous precedent.

“If the Congress can refuse to count electoral votes — for whatever reason — then it has the inherent power to seize the decision for itself and render the Electoral College superfluous,” he said.

Nunes influences election beliefs

“I think all of us out here know that this was not a fair election. We are really here, and it really doesn’t matter if we are Republican, Libertarian or Democrat, what we are standing for are fair and free elections, period.”

Those were the words of a woman speaking at a Trump rally Wednesday morning in Clovis, just hours before the mob rioting broke out.

Clovis is one of the main cities in Nunes’ district. His words and actions influence what residents of the 22nd District — from Tulare and Visalia to Clovis and part of Fresno — believe about the office of the presidency, Congress and the courts, and our elections.

The fact is this: Donald Trump lost the November election to Joe Biden. There was no fraud — even Republican secretaries of state certified their vote totals. The balloting was indeed fair and free.

For Nunes to cast doubt on that is to lead his constituents away from the truth and into falsehood.

Inventing conspiracies and spewing lies and half-truths, Nunes’ stock-in-trade, is the real threat to American democracy. If he truly cares for this republic, it is time for him to admit the truth, and recognize Biden as America’s next president.