After the Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to overturn the election, many far-right pro-Trump media figures, social media personalities, Republican Party officials, and former congressional candidates expressed support for secession from the United States or the use of the military to overturn the election which President Donald Trump lost.
The lawsuit sought, in a “seditious abuse of judicial process,” to invalidate the election results from several swing states that contributed to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. This extreme attempt to overthrow our democracy garnered mainstream Republican support, with 17 GOP state attorneys general and more than half of House Republicans signing on in support of it.
The Supreme Court’s rejection of the lawsuit did not end Trump supporters’ calls to overturn the election results. While treason talk — fueled by Rush Limbaugh — had already begun in the right-wing circles before the Supreme Court announced its decision, it really took off afterward. Continue reading.