The White House is done entertaining election denial conspiracies from leading elected Republicans.
After Republican Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) defended the deficit deepening IRS cuts in Republicans’ fake Israel aid bill and refused to affirm the validity of the 2020 election — despite being asked 8 times, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates called out election denial as a dangerous conspiracy that has done “unprecedented harm to the country.”
Watch ABC’s This Week below:
From ABC (emphasis mine):
Stephanopoulos asked Scalise on “This Week”: “Can you say unequivocally the 2020 election was not stolen?”
That prompted a back-and-forth as the majority leader repeatedly declined to answer directly, with Stephanopoulos saying it was a simple question with a yes or no answer.
Ultimately, Stephanopoulos asked eight times over the course of their exchange.
Instead of answering, Scalise raised concerns with how some states changed their voting rules in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephanopoulos pushed back, noting that various courts had all rejected claims of fraud in the last presidential race.
“So you just refuse to say unequivocally that the 2020 election was not stolen?” he asked again.
“You want to keep rehashing 2020. We’re talking about the future,” Scalise responded.
While declining to answer, Scalise reiterated Republican criticism of the Biden administration.
“Election denial is a dangerous conspiracy theory that has done unprecedented harm to the country and has been comprehensively debunked by over 80 federal judges, as well as the Trump Administration’s national security officials,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement sent to PoliticusUSA.
“Like President Biden said when House Republicans won their majority, when Speaker McCarthy was elected, and when Speaker Johnson was elected, this is a moment for Republicans and Democrats in Congress to work together in good faith to find common ground on behalf of the American people and address the shared challenges families grapple with every day,” he continued. “It is not a time to perpetuate long-discredited conspiracy theories that fueled an assault on the Capitol and tear Americans apart.”
It’s almost three years, a deadly insurrection and many jail sentences later and Republicans still can’t quit Donald Trump’s big lie that he won the election. Donald Trump lost the most secure election in U.S. history. There is no one in any higher office who is confused about that fact, certainly not elected Republicans who know better.
Continuing to push this big lie should be a very helpful hint for the media when they wonder why Democrats won’t bend over backward to save Republicans from themselves. The Trump election denial conspiracy has done untold harm to the country and to families and relationships across the land. It has made a mockery of the U.S. internationally. It has undermined our democracy. It is a huge, stinking, disgusting lie told by a very sore loser.
Apparently the sore loser isn’t so alone, though, as he has Republican House leaders from the Speaker to the Leader in his pocket, parroting his dangerous lies.
Enough.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
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