Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott May Face Censure From South Carolina County GOP

By Darragh Roche On 2/9/21 at 5:49 AM EST

Politics Lindsey Graham GOP 2020 Election

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) are facing potential censure from the Republican Party in Aiken County, South Carolina, because they did not oppose President Joe Biden's election win.

The county GOP is due to discuss censuring the senators at its Thursday meeting, though nothing has yet been decided. Several local Republican parties have recently passed motions of censure against elected officials.

Graham and Scott refused to object to the Electoral College votes from Pennsylvania and Arizona on January 6. Both men voted against the objections raised by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO).

"This is on the agenda. That's the first step," said Aiken County Republican Party chair Bob Brookshire.

"Doesn't mean it's going to be passed," Brookshire said.

"I think a lot of Republicans felt like we never got our day in court."

John Massie is president of the Aiken Republican Club. He told South Carolina's Aiken Standard the potential censure was a sign "of the frustrations that many, many people have."

Massie said there were still questions surrounding the 2020 presidential election and added: "My nature is that when people suppress investigations of things that should be open and transparent, it just raises a big red flag."

There has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud or other irregularities in the 2020 election, despite claims to the contrary from former President Donald Trump and some of his allies.

More than 60 lawsuits were filed disputing the election results and all but one were unsuccessful. Many of the suits were dismissed by the courts and the Supreme Court also refused to hear a case brought by Texas billed as "the big one."

"As I read the Constitution, there is no constitutionally viable means for the Congress to overturn an election wherein the states have certified and sent their Electors," Scott said on January 5.

"Some of my colleagues believe they have found a path, and while our opinions differ, I do not doubt their good intentions to take steps towards stamping out voter fraud."

"When it's over, it's over," Graham said on the Senate floor on January 6. "Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are lawfully elected and will become the president and vice president of the United States on January the 20th."

"To the conservatives who believe in the Constitution, now is your chance to stand up and be counted," he said. "So, Mike, Mr. Vice President, just hang in there. They said we can count on Mike. All of us can count on the vice president. You are going to do the right thing. You are going to do the constitutional thing."