Ostensibly President Trump was campaigning Monday night on behalf of the two Georgia incumbent Republican senators whose defeat in runoff elections on Tuesday could cost the party its majority in the U.S. Senate.
In reality the Dalton rally was a typical MAGA shitshow where the Trump cultists basked in the presence of their false messiah. Trump vented about his humiliating loss for over an hour, and Sen. Kelly Loeffler made a cameo appearance and Sen. David Perdue stayed home because he’s in COVID quarantine.
Trump didn’t put Loeffler and Perdue in the spotlight, he only cares about himself and he wouldn’t lose any sleep if Republicans lose control of the Senate.
Trump’s attention was on his obsequious vice president, Mike Pence and his role on January 6 when Congress is set to certify the Electoral College confirming Joe Biden’s victory. Trump amped up the pressure on his subordinate, telling the crowd:
“I hope Mike Pence comes through for us. I have to tell you. I hope that our great vice president, our great vice president, comes through for us. He’s a great guy. Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much. No, Mike is a great guy.”
Congress will meet Jan. 6 and open sealed certificates from each state that contain a record of their electoral votes. Bipartisan representatives of both chambers will read the results out loud and do an official count. The president of the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence, will preside over the session and declare the winner.
Pence’s role is strictly ceremonial, he will simply announce the winner. The vice president isn’t tasked with determining if the state elections were properly administered, and he doesn’t have the power to override the decision of the public and declare Trump the winner. The American electorate has already decided in a landslide that Biden won, and the Electoral College has already certified Biden’s victory, and Pence’s role is to announce the obvious: Joe Biden is the 46th president of the United States.
What the hell does Trump expect Pence to do? To make a speech declaring that the electors are part of a deep state conspiracy to rob Trump of his victory? To exclaim that the electors are fired, and that God Almighty wants Trump to retain his throne?
I don’t think so. On Jan 6, 2021 more than 100 Republican members of the House of Representatives and 13 GOP senators will contest the results of the election. But it will all be sound and fury signifying nothing, and at the end of the day Joe Biden will be certified by Congress as the president of the United States.