A Republican state lawmaker in Mississippi apparently floated the idea of secession after President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election, The Washington Post reports.
State Rep. Price Wallace (R) said Mississippi should “succeed from the union,” with the misspelled comment coming in response to a Twitter thread from fellow GOP state Rep. Robert Foster, the Post reported.
Foster had called for all “legal votes” to be counted before declaring a winner. The sentiment has become a rallying cry of the right since Biden’s victory.
“Not sure who all needs to hear this but we are not a Democracy. We are a Constitutional Republic. The majority does not rule, the law derived from a Constitution has the final say,” Foster said. “Democrats and their Fake News Cheerleaders are about to get a hard lesson in civics.”
Foster then said that Republicans would accept the results after all “legal votes are counted and confirmed by their state legislatures.” He then asserted that Democrats “won’t accept the rule of law if it doesn’t end in their favor” while saying “I choose law and order over a Banana Republic.”
Wallace responded in a tweet that has since been deleted, writing, “We need to succeed from the union and form our own country.”
Wallace’s Twitter account was temporarily made private, but appears to be public again.
Wallace later apologized for his comment, tweeting “I truly love the USA and Mississippi and would never support any idea of seceding from the union.”
“I am extremely sorry for my comment, it was inappropriate and in no way represents the will of my constituents or myself,” he tweeted. “I humbly ask for forgiveness for my poor lack of judgment.”
Multiple news outlets projected that Biden would win the election on Saturday after he pulled away from President Trump in the key battleground of Pennsylvania.
Trump has not conceded, however, and his campaign is mounting legal challenges contesting the results in several states, such as Arizona and Pennsylvania.
While some Republicans have acknowledged Biden as president-elect, many have stood by Trump as he moves forward with his legal challenges.
According to the Mississippi Free Press, Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) was one of 10 attorneys general to call on the Supreme Court to consider a case challenging a lower court ruling extending the mail-in ballot deadline in Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, other top Republicans in the Magnolia State have yet to weigh in on the results, the Free Press notes, including Gov. Tate Reeves (R).
Updated at 12:50 a.m.