What Does the Belief of Stolen Election Say About Democracy?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: I just want to ask you whether you agree with the conclusion that Liz Cheney came to. You cannot both embrace the big lie and the U.S. Constitution. Do you accept that?

FMR. REP. FRANCIS ROONEY (R-FL): Yes, I do. I think that what’s happened now, with the shift from the Republican Party of conservative principles, and limited government to a cult of personality, is a very destructive situation. I mean, you probably know better than I do how many times in history cults of personality have resulted in very difficult regimes. And we’re going that way now with Trump.

AMANPOUR: You know, it’s so interesting you use that, because I fixated on that when I read it in a column by “The F.T.” here. It also added that the United States is dividing into irreconcilable tribes. The GOP is moving from not a party, but to a cult of personality, as you say. So, the question they ask and we’re asking is, what should, then, principled conservatives do right now? How does a principled conservative carry on?

ROONEY: Well, I’m encouraging Liz to run for president. I want to see her get her ideas out there. I think all of us need to speak up about what made the Republican Party what it was, of the contributions that the party has made over the years, from Theodore Roosevelt through Richard Nixon in China, right to — and Ronald Reagan and the Bushes. So there’s a lot of things that we have done right, and we’re not doing them right, right now. And we need to refocus on those fundamental principles. At the end of the day, it’s principles and values which are enduring, not personalities.

AMANPOUR: OK, Congressman, you say that. And others would say, what do you mean? I just read — I just read a statistic of a poll that says 70 percent of Republicans believe that this election was illegitimate and that there was widespread fraud, despite all the Republican-appointed state workers and courts and all the rest of it saying there wasn’t. And many are saying that they’re going to be primaried if they don’t stick to Trump and the Trump line. Do you think that Liz Cheney or whoever tries to stand for conservative, traditional Republican principles can actually run and win if they’re on the wrong side of Trump, whether it’s 2022, 2024?

ROONEY: Well, what we have now is a gross deficit of leadership. Leadership is moving forward the ideas that are important and convincing people to follow them, not reacting to the masses’ views that are formed by sometimes improper or lack nonfactual information, like the election that you mentioned. We need leadership, we need to lead these people and show them where this country needs to go if we want to have Republican success. You know, I personally believe that our view of limited government, private sector solutions versus the government is a better way to go.