Fasten your seatbelts: Jan. 6, 2025 is just a few days away, and we could be in for a bumpy ride.
First, there are the Democrats. Back in Oct. 2024, a few weeks before the election, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Pirate Bay) said that if Trump "won a free, fair and honest election, then we would obviously accept it." Hey, that’s mighty big of you, Jamie, thanks!
In a neat instance of projection, however, Raskin wasn’t at all sure whether or not Bad Orange Man would manage to thwart the will of the people and steal the election. He said that he “definitely” did not think that Trump would refrain from resorting to chicanery in order to win, and claimed that the focus of all evil in the modern world was "doing whatever he can to try to interfere with the process, whether we're talking about manipulating electoral college counts in Nebraska or manipulating the vote count in Georgia or imposing other kinds of impediments."
Well, now the election is over and Trump won fair and square, although in some leftist circles, conspiracy theories are still circulating about how Trump managed to purloin the big prize from right under the nose of the People’s Choice, Kamala Harris. Raskin has heatedly denied making a statement that has circulated widely, attributed to him: “Let folks cast their votes for Trump if that’s their choice. But mark my words, we won’t be certifying the election. He might win, but we’ll ensure he doesn’t step foot in the Oval Office.”
The outraged solon declared: “This fictional ‘quote’ is 100% fabricated. It's one more lie in the stream of right-wing lies designed to undermine our election. Despite this actionable libel and all the disinformation, America is having a free and fair election and Congress will certify the winner.” Very well, then. Raskin didn’t say it. But why patriots would want to undermine an election that they won, Raskin didn’t say.
And even if Raskin didn’t say this, it’s hard to imagine the left, which has devoted eight years to trying to destroy Donald Trump, would stand idly by on Jan. 6 and let him be certified as the next president of the United States. Even if leftists really don’t have something up their sleeve for that day, however, the Republicans could ruin everything for themselves quite well on their own.
The Daily Caller reported Tuesday that Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) “said Tuesday that Speaker Mike Johnson does not have the votes among the House Republican conference to continue serving as speaker despite President-elect Donald Trump’s endorsement of Johnson on Monday.”
If Roy is correct, this is a big deal, for as PJM’s Paula Bolyard explained Monday: “If there's no House Speaker, there may not be a vote. If there is no certification, Trump cannot be inaugurated as president. Nor can JD Vance be sworn in without that crucial ceremonial vote. With no speaker in the House, the presidency could fall to Chuck Grassley until the House, with a slim Republican majority, can get things sorted out.”
Chuck Grassley would become president because, as the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, he is next in the line of succession. He is also 91 years old, and has been in the Senate since Jimmy Carter, who just died at age 100, was president of the United States.
Related: Be Warned: The Dems Aren’t Finished Hatching Schemes to Keep Trump From Taking Office
The country has never gone through a muddle of such magnitude; as Paula pointed out, “the U.S. line of succession has never gone past the level of vice president.” If there is a time for a first, however, it could be right when the man whom the left has relentlessly demonized as the destroyer of democracy and all that is good is about to return to the Oval Office.
Chip Roy said: “I remain undecided, as do a number of my colleagues, because we saw so many of the failures last year that we are concerned about that might limit or inhibit our ability to advance the President’s agenda.”
Great, but if there is no certification on Jan. 6, there might not be any president’s agenda for Roy to defend. Trump has endorsed Johnson, and for the sake of the country, the Republicans should get on board. The alternative could be far worse than having a relatively weak speaker of the House.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member