Charlie Kirk, host of The Charlie Kirk Show on talk radio, and founder and president of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, claimed that then-Vice President Richard Nixon “rejected
There has been extensive debate between lawmakers as to the powers that the Constitution grants the vice president when Congress convenes to formally count electoral votes every four years. It has been reported by Newsweek that Vice President Mike Pence is expected to preside over the Electoral College certification on January 6. Pence is not the first vice president to perform his duties during a joint session that would confirm victory for his opponents. According to The Washington Post, Vice President Al Gore was required to certify then-Texas Governor George W. Bush’s victory in 2000. Vice President Richard Nixon found himself in a similar situation after the 1960 presidential election, when he was defeated by then-Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, but now there’s debate over how he handled his constitutional responsibility. Charlie Kirk, host of The Charlie Kirk Show on talk radio, and founder and president of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, claimed that Nixon “rejected Hawaii’s ‘certified’ election results” in 1960 “because of irregularities and fraud.” He also claimed that “the President of the Senate, VP, has full authority to reject a state’s electors.” Similar statements about the powers of the vice president were made in a lawsuit against Pence brought on by Representative Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and a number of would-be electors from Arizona. According to USA Today, that lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge. The question remains: How did Nixon preside over the joint session that certified Kennedy’s presidential victory? As previously reported by Newsweek, the vice president presides over the proceedings and opens the certificates to be officially counted. The 12th Amendment states that, “The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.
