WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 22: U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) speaks as House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) (5th L), House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) (3rd L) and members of the GOP Doctors Caucus listen during a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol July 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. House GOPs held a news conference to discuss the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in the United States. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland) declared that North Carolina’s state legislature should give its electors to former President Donald Trump before the votes get counted.
During a Q&A at a Talbot County Lincoln-Reagan Dinner on Thursday night, Harris, the head of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, replied to comments made by a pro-Trump activist, Ivan Raiklin.
Raiklin suggested to the audience that Trump and others should call on GOP-led state legislatures in many states, including North Carolina and swing states like Arizona and Georgia, to assemble on Election Day and award their electoral votes to the former president.
“So for North Carolina, that makes a lot of sense,” Harris told Raiklin. “I mean, you statistically can go and say, ‘Hey, look, you got disenfranchised in 25 counties [due to Hurricane Helene]. You know what that vote probably would’ve been, which would be if I were in the Legislature, enough to go, ‘Yeah, we gotta convene the Legislature. We can’t – we can’t disenfranchise the voters.'”
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“But how do you make the argument in other states,” he asked. “I mean, otherwise, it looks like it’s just a power play. In North Carolina, I mean, it’s legitimate. I mean, there are a lot of people who aren’t gonna get to vote, and it may make a difference in that – in that state.”
In a statement, Harris said that his “theoretical conversation” about state legislatures awarding electoral votes ahead of time “has been taken out of context.”
“As I’ve repeatedly said, every legal vote should be counted,” the Maryland congressman declared. “Currently, voting is going well in western North Carolina.”
Harris was one of the 21 House Republicans voting against a bill to award Capitol Police officers who defended Congress during the January 6 Capitol riots the Congressional Gold Medal.
In 2021, Harris was stopped by Capitol Police when he tried to bring a gun onto the House floor.
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