Republican congressmen go to war with each other over Trump's bogus fraud claims

Far-right Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama has joined President Donald Trump in refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect and pushing debunked claims of voter fraud. But another Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, is slamming Brooks' voter fraud claims as nonsense, sparking a feud between the two GOP congressmen.

Kinzinger, according to Newsweek's Jason Lemon, "has suggested that those backing the president's conspiracy theories are doing so to raise money and garner more attention on social media" — and Kinzinger has dismissed the voter fraud claims as a "scam."

When Brooks appeared on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" on Monday morning, he accused the Illinois Republican of being soft on voter fraud.

"If he would do his homework," Brooks told the "Fox and Friends" hosts, "he would understand the evidence is overwhelming. He can either surrender to the people who support voter fraud, election theft — or he can fight for his country on this particular issue."

In truth, the wild claims Trump and his allies have pushed to back up the assertion that the election was stolen have been repeatedly debunked.

Brooks, on "Fox and Friends," claimed that "dozens" of House Republicans might join him in objecting to the Electoral College results when Congress meets for a joint session on January 6.

"There are dozens in the House of Representatives who have reached that conclusion, as I have. We're going to sponsor and co-sponsor objections to the Electoral College vote returns of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and maybe more depending on where we collectively want to go," the Alabama lawmaker said.

Lemon, however, notes, "In order for the objections to be considered, a Republican senator must also sign on to a written objection. Although the effort is widely expected to fail, several GOP senators have suggested they may be open to supporting objections."

Kinzinger, in contrast to Brooks, acknowledges Biden as the United States' legitimate president-elect and has said that there is no proof of the type of widespread voter fraud that Brooks alleges. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, Kinzinger stressed, "I grew up as a Republican because I believe in smaller government and strong national defense, and that's being destroyed by conspiracies right now and anger. I really do worry about the future of my party."

Slamming Kinzinger on Twitter, Brooks tweeted:

Kinzinger tweeted in response:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has acknowledged Biden as president-elect and Sen. Kamala Harris as vice president-elect, has been trying to discourage Senate Republicans from joining House Republicans in objecting to the Electoral College results. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is siding with McConnell, saying that objections are likely to go down like a "shot dog." And Trump, in response, is attacking Thune as a RINO or Republican in Name Only:

The vote count for this year's presidential election showed Biden with 306 electoral votes, and he defeated Trump by more than 7 million in the popular vote.