On MSNBC Wednesday, following President Joe Biden's speech warning about threats to democracy, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a member of the House Select Committee on January 6, laid into election conspiracy theorists running for secretary of state offices, which would give them power over how elections in key states are run.
Such conspiracy theorists include Mark Finchem in Arizona, Jim Marchant in Nevada, and Kristina Karamo in Michigan.
"This is not a two-party problem. This is a one-party problem," said anchor Joy Reid. "You have a couple of Republicans on your committee. It's not even clear Republicans will listen to them. Are you concerned there's nothing that your committee can do or say that would be enough evidence to get those who have an interest, a political interest, a financial interest, whatever interest in maintaining the lie to stand down."
"Our responsibility is to history and to the people and the Congress, and not to the Democrats or the Republicans, and millions of Americans who hate both political parties and independents or greens or libertarians or something else," said Raskin. "When the president said that there are election deniers on the ballot, he's absolutely right about that. It's hard to think there's anything more dangerous than putting an election denier in charge of an election. It's like putting a mob boss in charge of the police, or arsonist as the fire chief for the town. That doesn't work."
There is simply no basis anymore to continue lying that the 2020 presidential election was in some way stolen or corrupted, Raskin continued.
"I would be willing to grant you don't accept the election as it comes down from administrative authorities, election officials," said Raskin. "But if you had a challenge in court and the court's rejected every allegation of electoral fraud and corruption, as more than 60 courts did with respect to Donald Trump's Big Lie about the 2020 election, then in a democratic society you've got to accept that. What else can you do? You really are positioning yourself outside of the constitutional order and the rule of law if you continue to try to claim that you somehow won."
"It's also, obviously, a psychological malady, too," added Raskin. "You are cutting up against everything we understand about healthy mental functioning. There's no basis for what they are saying, so they are spreading paranoia in the land."
Watch below:
Jamie Raskin on election deniers running for secretary of statewww.youtube.com
