Benjamin Franklin is given attribution for the quote, “Well done is better than well said.”

For Rep. Scott Perry (R-10), his actions may speak louder than his words.

The six-term incumbent from Dillsburg, York County, is being criticized again for his actions leading up to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol – this time for a speech he gave five years ago when he said Americans should accept election results as the will of the people and move on.

Perry was addressing the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, a gathering of public policy conservatives each year in the Keystone State, in Camp Hill in 2019, and was talking about the smooth transition of power.

“One of the things that we love about America, one of the things that other countries love about America, is the smooth transition of power,” said Perry. “We’re not a third-world dictatorship. We’re not a tinhorn country from some other place that’s changed the rule during the middle of the election. And even though somebody’s elected, they never really accepted and there is civil war in the streets.

“This is America,” continued Perry. “Even though somebody’s elected that you don’t agree with, you accept the will of the people and you get on with it.

“You are the loyal opposition. Loyal to your country, but opposed to maybe some of the policies of somebody that got elected that you disagree with and that’s OK. You’ll get in the arena of ideas. We’ll talk about it and I think we can make a difference and we’ll change it next time.”

Perry called out Democrats for their reaction to the 2000 election of George W. Bush, saying that the transition “wasn’t that smooth because one-half of the country didn’t accept that. They said he was not elected, he was selected. And they never acknowledged the legitimacy of his presidency.”

The retired U.S. Army National Guard brigadier general was critical of Democrats for not being the loyal opposition because “they were focused only on destroying his presidency even if it meant bad things for their own country.”

Perry also told the audience that America was at the beginning of having half the country disagree with the outcome of an election.

“I just want you to recognize that the resistance, it’s not the loyal opposition anymore, it is the resistance to the will of the people,” he said.

He also drew battle lines between conservatives and the MAGA movement and Democrats.

“People say to me, just be reasonable. Folks, we have gone beyond reasonable and we cannot give anymore,” said Perry. “We don’t want to be unreasonable, but people are depending on us.”

Then, in a reference to the Mueller report, Perry said that it was “an example of one side not just refusing to accept the will of the people. What they attempted to do was destroy a presidency before it happened and then after it happened and subvert the will of the people.

“That’s what dictators do.”

Two years earlier, Perry had been asked during a contentious town hall meeting if he would stand up to a president who “uses falsehoods and misinformation to further his political career.”

Perry responded, “yes.”

Perry did not choose to adhere to his own words following President Joe Biden’s defeat of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania by 80,000 votes in 2020.

He was among 138 House Republicans, two-thirds of their caucus, who voted to oppose Pennsylvania’s electoral votes, joining Keystone State Reps. Mike Kelly (R-16), Dan Meuser (R-09), Guy Reschenthaler (R-14), Fred Keller (R-12), John Joyce (R-13), Lloyd Smucker (R-11) and Glenn Thompson (R-15).

Perry argued that, “when votes are accepted under unconstitutional means without fair and equal protection for all, the only result can be an illegitimate outcome.”

Last November, an opinion from a U.S. District Court judge shed light on Perry’s activities to willingly serve as one of Trump’s key associates in his plan to remain in power.

Judge Beryl A. Powell wrote “if Rep. Perry was purely gathering information, he would not have been attempting to influence the conduct of executive branch officials and encouraging them to engage in efforts to challenge the legitimacy of the 2020 election.”

Perry’s communications to state lawmakers in Harrisburg, including state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin), covered a lot of bases.

• A potential legislative audit of the vote.
• Connecting legislators with members of the Trump campaign team.
• Planning for a legislative hearing – nultimately never held – where representatives of Dominion Voting Systems could be questioned about the integrity of their voting machine systems.
• A resolution, never actually brought up for consideration by the GOP leaders in Harrisburg at the time, declaring the Pennsylvania results to be “in dispute.”
• Encouraging the drafting of a Dec. 19, 2020 letter from legislators to Pence asking him to “weigh the validity of purported electors and electoral votes representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Perry refused a subpoena to testify before the Jan. 6 Committee and was referred to the House Ethics Committee for sanctions – which he never received.