Philadelphia Inquirer: First it was ‘fraud,’ then they just didn’t like the rules: How Pa. Republicans justified trying to overturn an election

As Joe Biden took the lead in the vote count and then won Pennsylvania, some of the state’s top Republicans added their voices to President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the election was stolen and rife with fraud.

U.S. Rep. Scott Perry joined a “Stop the Steal” rally in Harrisburg and later went on Fox Business Network to blast Pennsylvania’s election as a “horrific embarrassment.” …

Perry, Kelly, Meuser, and Reschenthaler were joined by fellow Pennsylvania Reps. Fred Keller, John Joyce, Lloyd Smucker, and Glenn Thompson in opposing their state’s electoral votes. They raised their objections for weeks leading up to the vote, and again hours after a riot scarred the Capitol.They were among 138 House Republicans, two-thirds of their caucus, who voted to block the state from having a say in the election.

“Part of democracy is being willing to accept the results of a legitimate election, even when it doesn’t favor you. We’ve just lost sight of that,” said Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a nonpartisan advocacy group that supports voting rights. “Now what we’re hearing is this rhetoric that is leading people to believe democracy doesn’t work if it doesn’t get me my outcome. ….That rhetoric is absolutely decimating confidence in our democracy.”