'Go to the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM': Rep. Louie Gohmert says court rejection of his challenge to Biden's election win leaves Trump supporters no option except to take direct action
President Donald Trump's ally Rep. Louie Gohmert suggested supporters could 'go to the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM' in shocking remarks after courts denied his bid to overturn the election.
But Gohmert furiously backpedaled after outrage over his remarks - insisting his words had been 'twisted' and he was not advocating violence.
A U.S. judge on Friday rejected Gohmert's lawsuit against Vice President Mike Pence, who is set to preside Wednesday over a joint session of Congress to formalize the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The judge, appointed by Trump, said Gohmert and other Republicans who filed suit lack standing to bring the legal action seeking to overturn the election of President-elect Joe Biden.
Following the ruling, Gohmert, a Texas Republican, told Newsmax: 'But if bottom line is, the court is saying, 'We're not going to touch this. You have no remedy' - basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you gotta go to the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM.'
Louie Gohmert on Newsmax: "But if bottom line is, the court is saying, 'We're not going to touch this. You have no remedy' -- basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you gotta go the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM." pic.twitter.com/cZIdGTiQls
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2021
Louie Gohmert on Newsmax: "But if bottom line is, the court is saying, 'We're not going to touch this. You have no remedy' -- basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you gotta go the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM." pic.twitter.com/cZIdGTiQls
Gohmert, a Texas Republican, told Newsmax: 'But if bottom line is, the court is saying, 'We're not going to touch this. You have no remedy' - basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you gotta go to the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM'
Antifa supporters with shields and umbrellas are seen after the 'Million MAGA March' on December 12. Fears are rising of violence as Trump supporters rally on January 6
After his remarks drew backlash, Gohmert issued a statement saying his words had been twisted, and that it was 'false' he had been advocating for violence.
'I have not encouraged and unequivocally do not advocate for violence,' he said. 'I have long advocated for following and teach the example of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. of peaceful protest.'
'That does not keep me from recognizing what lies ahead when the institutions created by a self-governing people to peacefully resolve disputes hide from their responsibilities,' he continued.
'Violence is not the answer. The appropriate answer is courts and self-governing bodies resolving disputes as intended,' Gohmert concluded.
Gohmert's suit sought to empower Pence to overturn the results of the presidential election won by Joe Biden when Congress formally counts the Electoral College votes next week.
Pence, as president of the Senate, will oversee the session Wednesday and declare the winner of the White House race.
Gohmert issued a statement denying his remarks were a call for violence
Gohmert's suit sought to empower Mike Pence to overturn the results of the presidential election won by Joe Biden when Congress formally counts the Electoral College votes
The Electoral College this month cemented Biden´s 306-232 victory, and multiple legal efforts by Trump's campaign to challenge the results have failed.
The suit named Pence, who has a largely ceremonial role in next week's proceedings, as the defendant and asked the court to throw out the 1887 law that spells out how Congress handles the vote counting.
It asserted that the vice president 'may exercise the exclusive authority and sole discretion in determining which electoral votes to count for a given State.'
In dismissing the lawsuit filed by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and a group of Republican electors from Arizona, Texas U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee, wrote that the plaintiffs 'allege an injury that is not fairly traceable' to Pence, 'and is unlikely to be redressed by the requested relief.'
Trump is urging supporters to amass in Washington on January 6 for a last-ditch rally to pressure Congress to not certify Biden's election victory.
Thousands of supporters from around the country, from the Women for America First group, to StoptheSteal, to the violent Proud Boys, are expected to descend on the US capital pressing Trump's unsupported claim that massive voter fraud was behind his defeat in the November 3 election.
Proud Boys and Antifa fight after the 'Million MAGA March' from Freedom Plaza to the US Capitol in Washington, DC, United States on December 12, 2020
The Proud Boys have vowed to attend the rally incognito, disguised as their left-wing enemies Antifa, in a bid to sow chaos among the opposing ranks.
Trump tweeted twice this weekend urging supporters to attend, labeling the election 'the biggest SCAM in our nation's history.'
'See you in Washington, DC, on January 6th. Don't miss it,' he wrote Sunday.
The rally raised fears of fresh violence after the previous pro-Trump protest that included the Proud Boys on December 12 saw several people stabbed and dozens arrested.
Trump appears to hope that the protestors could pressure Congress to reject the final count of state-based electors and reverse his election loss.
'We the People must take to the US Capitol lawn and steps and tell Congress #DoNotCertify,' StopTheSteal declared online.
'Congress cannot certify this fraudulent Electoral College,' they said.