CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings engaged in a debate with former Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Monday, providing a detailed history of instances where Democrats challenged the results of presidential elections prior to Jan. 6, 2021.
Jennings highlighted that both the Democratic and Republican parties had certified the 2024 electoral votes without objections for the first time in the 21st century. Kinzinger, however, argued that both parties had “always accepted the presidential election” results until former President Donald Trump claimed the 2020 election was fraudulent. Historically, Democrats had objected to Republican victories in every presidential election of this century until Monday.
“Just a quick point: both parties have always accepted the presidential election until one, four years ago,” Kinzinger said.
“False, they have not,” Jennings countered.
Kinzinger maintained that he had never seen a Democratic House speaker or party leader publicly deny election results or challenge certification.
“But saying the party—I’ve never seen the speaker or the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives object to a presidential election. There is a massive difference, and don’t try to put these on the same thing,” Kinzinger said to Jennings. “I agree they shouldn’t have done it, but to say it’s the same thing is wrong.”
“They did it, and you admit they objected,” Jennings responded.
Democrats have, in fact, used the certification of electoral votes to challenge results in the 2000, 2004, and 2016 elections, following Republican victories by George W. Bush and Donald Trump. In January 2001, several Democratic members of Congress, led by former Democratic Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings, objected to the certification. Former Vice President Al Gore, who had lost the election to Bush, silenced these objections.
In 2004, former Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones formally objected to Ohio’s electoral votes after Bush’s reelection, despite his 118,000-vote margin in the state. Thirty-two Democratic members voted to reject certification, though the motion ultimately failed.
In 2016, seven Democrats, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Maxine Waters, and Jamie Raskin, objected to the certification of Donald Trump’s victory.
Similarly, after Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, along with ten other senators, objected to the certification, citing alleged irregularities.
