And yet he did it anyway, because it was his job.
Discussion
There are some who believe it was his job not to certify given the circumstances
Nixon certified Kennedy’s election in 1960. Interestingly, Nixon also changed electoral votes for Hawaii from being his to being Kennedy’s, as votes came in long after Election Day when the electors were chosen
This was due to it being Hawaii’s first presidential election (it only became a state in 1959) and so the state government there had no experience running elections
This was the precedent Trump was hoping Pence would use to not certify Biden’s win
Clearly it didn’t work and Pence’s allegiance was to the Constitution, regardless of his or his boss’s opinion on the outcome of the election or the pressure he was under. Anyway, it’s a moot point now as Trump is back and Pence is not.
Interesting about the Hawaii detail, BTW. I hadn’t heard that before.
Have you heard about the election of 1876? Blows the Hawaii part out of the water…
It was a long shot from the start but it wasn’t unconstitutional. Sort of like an onsides kick
The reality is that once the votes are counted there are not many legal remedies
It was almost certain pence would certify but he could have said that weeks before so as to set expectations correctly. Instead he gave trump supporters false hope
Yes it’s all moot but it is also interesting to see our system be so tested over the last decade and yet…we’re all still here and doing ok