Utah Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) Disdains Democracy, Which Explains Why He Supports Trump's Coup Attempt
February 13, 2021
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT). Gage Skidmore
MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH
Republican Utah Senator Mike Lee caused a kerfuffle at the end of the powerful House Impeachment Manager’s case on Wednesday by impetuously claiming that he had been misquoted by the House Managers in regards to a key timeline phone call from Trump. He and one of his lead staffers had already confirmed the January 6 phone call during the height of the insurrection, but it appears Lee was attempting to taint the House Manager’s case by claiming they had lied and that his objection would distract from the power of the Impeachment case against Trump.
I’ll get back to that phone call in a bit, and proof of Lee’s histrionic mendacity. However, when pundits argue that the Trump Senate GOP co-conspirators will vote to acquit him (with the exception of perhaps 5-8 GOP votes), they are missing the point that many of these Republicans believe in one-party authoritarian rule, whether under Trump or another dictator in waiting (think Hawley and Cruz). They are not particularly scared of Trump voters; they agree with the objectives of a minority white-ruled government, with Black and Browns not considered “legal voters.” In fact, the Trump “base” is vital to achieving their despotic goals that advance the interests of the oligarchs while inciting their voters with the emotional lure of “white grievance.”
In October of 2020, Lee revealed his anti-democracy outlook in a tweet. A month before the election, Rolling Stone ran an article about Lee’s anti-democracy leanings that was subtitled, “It’s probably not a good look for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to trash democracy less than a month before an election the party in power is actively trying to steal.” Here is the tweet:
That brings us back to why Lee was so eager to deny the accurate depiction by the House Impeachment managers.that then President Trump had tried to call Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) at 2:10 or so on the afternoon of January 6 and mistakenly called Lee (Rudy Giuliani made the same mistake, but left a message on Lee’s phone). Trump was not willing to stop the Capitol Hill violence, but instead, along with Giuliani, wanted to allow the insurrectionists to commit violence in order to try and hold up the Electoral Vote count. Ergo, Trump’s request to Tuberville to try and contest more swing state votes to upend the outcome so Trump could, he thought, eventually hold onto power based on the Big Lie.
On Wednesday night, Tuberville confirmed the call from Trump, and that he cut the president’s request for stealing the electoral count short by telling Trump: "I said, 'Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I've got to go.'" Just a few minutes later, Trump who had no doubt also been informed by the Secret Service of the peril of Mike Pence’s harrowing situation, sent out a tweet that was, in essence, a thinly veiled call to his insurrectionists to do harm to Pence.
UPDATE: Since this commentary was written, Mike Lee has provided the Senate with his January 6 phone records which appears to indicate the call from Trump (which he transferred to Senator Tommy Tuberville) came later, at 2:26, but Trump, after being informed of Pence’s removal, still did not try to do anything to stop the crowd from advancing his insurrectionist goals, including disrupting the Electoral Count and potentially assassinating Pence, Pelosi and other “enemies of the people.” Also, Lee curiously does not appear to have disclosed the time when the mistaken voice mail to delay the Electoral Vote count by Rudy Giuliani came in.
In fact, Pence was rushed out about 2:15. Many questions linger, but the bottom line is Trump knew of Pence’s highly vulnerable position at the time of one of his many indications to his mob that Pence was “betraying” him. And, as noted above, it is highly unlikely that Trump was not informed by the Secret Service of Pence being in harms way. At no time did Trump try to call Pence to offer him protection or even inquire about his safety. Instead, Trump was goading his mob to do bodily harm to Pence, no doubt because it would create enough chaos for him to declare a national emergency, thus ending the Electoral Count.
Trump knew of the ransacking of the Capitol because he was reportedly watching his marauders on TV, threatening elected officials, with a sense of triumph.
(Screenshot)
In response to the tweet, the seditionists began to shout, “Hang Mike Pence.”
Lee’s Thursday night claim that he wanted his confirmation of of the calls stricken from the Congressional Record because they were false is a lie. He had told his home state paper, The Deseret News, about the calls shortly after January 6.
Along with other accounts, including this detailed Washington Post account of Trump’s full backing for the violence of the mob he had unleashed, it was clear that Trump, back at the White House, was thrilled to launch a potentially murderous assault on the Capitol to maintain power through a second term. Lee did not want, on Thursday night, to be seen by Trump as a witness to that true narrative. In trying to recant his earlier statements about the two calls (one from Trump and a message from Giuliani) in which he was essentially corroborating that Trump was engaged in inciting potential bloodletting, including the potential murder of his Vice President.
Even, in a bombshell revelation, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reportedly got into an “F-Bomb” shouting match with Trump on the afternoon of January 6 because Trump would do nothing to stem the tide of violence. In fact, numerous sources claim that Trump, who was reportedly thrilled by watching the Capitol invasion unfold, chastised McCarthy: “"Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
None of this has given Lee any second thoughts about acquitting Trump, because Trump is blazing a trail for a new GOP playbook of fascism that knows no guard rails. Even if people will die, including the second and third persons in line of succession to the presidency. This is the price paid for the 2021 version of “1776” of the “new patriots.”
Indeed, after his false claim of umbrage on Thursday night, Mike Lee, a supposedly “impartial juror,” joined with Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz in meeting with Trump’s lawyers to assist in Trump’s defense. Remember, there are no guard rails to those who would jettison democracy as if it were litter to be tossed on the highway.
Mike Lee is fine with that. An expansive democracy threatens to bring down white minority rule. Therefore, drastic authoritarian measures need to be taken to keep white patriarchy in power. The Republican Party needs a strongman, and Mike Lee will sell out democracy, as he has, to enable a dictatorship to achieve those ends.
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