This is the first time Davidson spoke publicly ― though he did make statements on his social media accounts — about the violent pro-Trump mob that breached the U.S. Capitol and led to six deaths, including a female veteran shot to death and two Capitol Police officers.
“It’s good news that the country uniformly rejects that violent assault and agrees that it’s wrong that it took place,” said Davidson in his opening remarks on the call that was streamed on his congressional Facebook page. “I’m confident that the people that committed the assault will be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent, and I’m confident we’ll continue to learn more about what went wrong with the security protocols and everything else that led up to those events.”
Questions ranged from concerns about the Capitol attack and concerns of a Democratic-controlled White House and Congress to questions on the election. There has been no provable evidence of an alleged stolen election, and former Attorney General William Barr’s office found no evidence of alleged election fraud. Still, some of the town hall participants appeared to believe the election was stolen: the first question was, “What are we going to do about this stolen election?”
Davidson said at this point, the best thing for Congress to do is conduct hearings about the integrity of the election process.
“There are tens of millions of people that agree with your viewpoint, and frankly there are tens of millions of people that disagree with that viewpoint,” Davidson told the caller. “I think part of the frustration that I sense from you and frankly tons of our constituents that people aren’t listening. There’s no hearing for this, and look, Congress could do a lot by conducting hearings and being transparent about the good and bad that went on in this election.”
He said Republicans had done everything they can regarding the 2020 election, but now lawmakers must have “a healthy debate” about election security, not just at the federal level but at the state level, too.
About halfway into the town hall, a Springfield caller asked Davidson to defend his continued opposition to the Electoral College votes after rioters stormed the Capitol.
Davidson said his objections were because he believed there wasn’t transparency in some states.
Davidson didn’t say the city, but referenced election officials placing poster boards up on windows, and that in some states poll watchers and vote-counting observers allegedly were kicked out of locations. He said those actions don’t prove fraud, but “it does seem awfully suspicious.” Multiple state and local election officials say no poll watchers nor anyone allowed to observed the canvassing of votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia were kicked out, according to multiple media outlets.
In Detroit, poster boards were placed over windows amid concerns of people taking unauthorized photographs and videos of the count, according to the New York Times. For security reasons, only the media is permitted to video and take pictures inside the counting place, according to the Times.
But Davidson insists on an audit.
“A recount only counts what’s already there, I want a full audit of everything,” he said. “There’s been every delay tactic or every excuse given in the world to not get that full audit.”
Ohio’s 8th Congressional District includes Butler, Clark, Darke, Miami and Preble counties and a part of Mercer County.
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