'When does a scam become a coup?' GOP lawmaker lashes out at Josh Hawley and Louie Gohmert
Rep. Denver Riggleman of Virginia blasted fellow Republicans on Wednesday for taking a series of actions to undermine the U.S. election system.
During an interview on MSNBC, Riggleman spoke out about two of his colleagues -- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) -- for their "horrific" attempts not to accept the outcome of the 2020 election.
Earlier in the day, Hawley revealed that he will delay President-elect Joe Biden's victory by officially objecting to the Electoral College results. And Gohmert reportedly filed a lawsuit this week that he hopes will give Vice President Mike Pence the power to reject President-elect Joe Biden's electors.
"The only thing that I can say is it's nuts," Riggleman told MSNBC's Kasie Hunt. "It doesn't make any sense right now unless it's about fundraising for a specific base [or] they're looking to go forward politically somewhere."
"When does a scam become a coup?" the congressman continued. "And I think it's a frightening prospect for them to continue down this road."
Riggleman speculated that Hawley had agreed to challenge the results of the election to bolster his fundraising.
"I think people are tired of the ridiculous tripe you see from Sen. Hawley saying he's going to come out against this election on states that have already decided," he explained.
The Virginia Republican also addressed Gohmert's election lawsuit.
"This lawsuit that you see from Louie, it's not even worth the paper that it's written on," Riggleman said. "It's complete crap."
"This is being used for fundraising. It's a grift," he added. "But it hurting the American public because it's dictating dialog that's based on unicorns and Big Foot."
Watch the video below from MSNBC.