Republicans Erupt In Civil War Over Election — Against Each Other

In recent days, Ohio's Gov. Mike DeWine and other prominent GOP figures have come under fire by fellow Republicans for refusing to participate in Donald Trump's attempted coup.

Last week, Fox News aired clips from a CNN interview in which DeWine told host Jake Tapper that Biden had won fair and square.

"We need to consider the former Vice President as the president-elect," DeWine told the outlet. "Joe Biden is the president-elect."

Trump, outraged, took to Twitter.

"Who will be running for Governor of the Great State of Ohio? Will be hotly contested!" he tweeted in response.

Other Republicans, too, have been condemned by their own party for refusing to participate in or endorse Trump's efforts to steal the election.

On Sunday evening, Fox News host Mark Levin seemed to blast fellow Republican Karl Rove, former White House deputy chief of staff under George W. Bush, for his criticism of Trump's efforts to steal the election.

"It is frustrating to me to listen and watch people who have no experience in civil litigation, know nothing about civil litigation," said Levin, "or former federal prosecutors and professors who should know better, saying the same thing — or political operatives with whiteboards and without whiteboards — 'I'm afraid there's no evidence, we don't have the evidence, there is no evidence.'"

Rove, who recently penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal suggesting that election results will not be overturned and that Trump should gracefully embrace the transition, is well known for using a whiteboard to make political points in television appearances.

Levin also slammed Republican lawmakers for accepting the results of the presidential election: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).

Once-beloved Fox News host Tucker Carlson also drew ire from former fans on Thursday.

While he promoted broader claims of election fraud, he also criticized Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for having no evidence to back her claim that mass voter fraud had been perpetrated by electronic voting machines.

"We invited Sidney Powell on the show. We would have given her the whole hour, but she never sent us any evidence, despite a lot of requests, polite requests," Carlson said on his show. "Not a page. When we kept pressing, she got angry and told us to stop contacting her."

He added that Powell "never demonstrated that a single actual vote was moved illegitimately by software from one candidate to another. Not one."

In response to Carlson's remarks, Powell and fellow Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani refused to appear for a scheduled Saturday appearance on Fox News.

Conservatives have been abandoning Fox News since Election Day, as Trump has increasingly criticized the network.

According to a recent Morning Consult Poll, support for the network among Republicans has plunged a full 13% since the Nov. 3 election.

And, of course, Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has also been viciously attacked by his own party for repeatedly confirming the fairness of the election in Georgia, which went to Biden.

Raffensperger has faced condemnation by Georgia Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, as well as alleged pressure from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to throw out votes in Georgia counties.

But it's not just acknowledging Biden's win that can endanger Republicans' standing with Donald Trump and the rest of their party — for Trump, it appears not defending him loudly enough is equally offensive.

Lin Wood, the attorney notoriously filing Trump's frivolous lawsuits and supporting his efforts to steal the election, encouraged fellow Republicans not to vote for Loeffler and Perdue in the Jan. 5 runoff election.

Wood argued that the pair of Georgia senators haven't proven their loyalty to Trump or worked hard enough to steal the election.

"Why are they doing little or nothing to support efforts by GA citizens to address unlawful election & need for @BrianKempGA to order special session of legislature? If not fixed, I will NOT vote in GA runoff. Will you?" Wood tweeted Saturday.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.