Election denialism was once reserved for the fringes of the Republican Party. But that changed when former President Donald Trump vehemently denied the results of the 2020 election, launching a campaign of disinformation and frivolous lawsuits in order to thwart his defeat.
His lies spurred a group of supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol in an attack that led to Trump’s second impeachment by the House (he was acquitted by the Senate). Now, not only has denying election results after races become more commonplace in the GOP, the preemptive denial of election results is also catching fire among Republicans who voted to certify the 2020 election.
“In the last few weeks,” Marc Elias writes this week, “a parade of prominent Republicans has refused to commit to accepting the results of this year’s elections. This includes not only Trump sycophants like J.D. Vance and Kristi Noem, but so-called moderates as well.”
On Sunday, when asked if he’d accept the results of the Nov. 5 election, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio provided a complicated answer to a fairly simple question.
"No matter what happens? No," Rubio told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker. "If it's an unfair election, I think it's going to be contested by either side.”
In January, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) appeared on the same show and was evasive, saying, “We will see if this is a legal and valid election,” she said.
The Trump loyalist also said in February that she wouldn’t have certified votes on Jan. 6, 2021, if she were in then-Vice President Mike Pence’s position. Pence faced immense pressure from Trump and his allies — and mortal danger from Trump supporters — to block the certification.
“I don’t think that was the right approach,” Stefanik said of Pence’s actions, in a CNN interview. “I think it is very important that we continue to stand up for the Constitution and have legal and secure elections, which we did not have in 2020.”
Separately, Welker also asked Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) about whether he’d accept the 2024 election results. "At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be President Donald Trump," Scott said during the May interview. When asked for a “yes or no” answer, Scott said, "That is my statement."
Given that Scott, Rubio and others will once again be tasked with certifying the results of the 2024 election, their obfuscation is alarming. Trump trafficked in election falsehoods long before 2020, but he was especially pointed with his remarks in the months leading up to the election.
“Go out and vote. Do those beautiful absentee ballots, or just make sure your vote gets counted. Make sure because the only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged,” Trump said at a campaign event in August 2020. “Remember that. It’s the only way we’re going to lose this election, so we have to be very careful.”
Trump and Republicans have yet to produce concrete evidence of widespread voter fraud, and even Trump’s attorney general poured cold water on his fraud claims in 2022.