CNN: Republican Candidates For Governor Still Denying Legitimacy Of The 2020 Election

CNN: Republican Candidates For Governor Still Denying Legitimacy Of The 2020 Election

A report from the weekend from CNN detailed how “At least five of the 11 Republican nominees – Mark Robinson of North Carolina, Mike Braun of Indiana, Mike Kehoe of Missouri, Greg Gianforte of Montana and Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia – have supported efforts to overturn Biden’s victory in 2020 or denied the legitimacy of that victory…”

CNN also noted how Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte “did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment” to clarify whether she thought the 2020 election was stolen. After saying she couldn’t support Trump during his 2016 election and writing in Mike Pence for president, Ayotte has spent this campaign going back on her word in order to fully embrace Trump and repeatedly refusing to answer basic questions about whether she believes former Vice President Mike Pence did “the right thing” when he certified the 2020 presidential election results.

See more from CNN below: 

• North Carolina: Mark Robinson “has explicitly rejected the legitimacy of Biden’s victory. Robinson falsely claimed in a 2021 speech at a church that Biden “stole the election,” according to audio obtained by The News & Observer newspaper. And in Robinson’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2022, he said he didn’t believe Biden’s 2020 vote total: “I don’t care what you tell me, 83 thousand people [sic] did not vote for Joe Biden. I don’t think 83 million people know who Joe Biden is.”
• Indiana: Republican candidate Mike Braun planned to be part of a group of Republican senators who would object to the congressional count of “disputed states” won by Biden and would instead push Congress to authorize an “emergency 10-day audit” of the election in those states.
• Montana: Greg Gianforte “was one of 126 House Republicans who signed on to a legal brief in support of a Texas-led lawsuit that asked the Supreme Court to overturn Biden’s victory by invalidating his wins in four swing states.”
• Missouri: Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe “​​rejected the legitimacy of Biden’s victory when asked for comment.”
• West Virginia: Patrick Morrisey “joined the Texas-led lawsuit that asked the Supreme Court to overturn Biden’s victory” and has “refused to say definitively whether he believes Biden’s victory was fraudulent.”

“While Democrats are running to protect fundamental freedoms and help the middle class, Republican candidates for governor across the country are still focused on peddling dangerous lies about the 2020 election and undermining our free and fair elections,” said DGA Communications Director Sam Newton. “The fact that these Republican candidates are pushing conspiracy theories and still refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 election is dangerous, disqualifying and deeply out of touch.”

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