Minority Whip Steve Scalise twice REFUSES to say 2020 election wasn't stolen
House Minority Whip, Representative Steve Scalise, repeatedly refused to say on Sunday that the 2020 election wasn't stolen, despite being confronted on the issue twice by Fox News' Chris Wallace.
More than 11 months after the results of the election came in and nearly nine months since Biden was inaugurated, Scalise was still unwilling to acknowledge that Donald Trump had lost the election,
'I've been very clear from the beginning,' he said. 'If you look at a number of states, they didn't follow their state-passed laws that govern the election for president.'
'That is what the United States Constitution says. They don´t say the states determine what the rules are. They say the state legislatures determine the rules,' the Louisiana congressman said in an interview with Wallace on Fox News Sunday.
House Minority Whip, Representative Steve Scalise (pictured), repeatedly refused to say on Sunday that the 2020 election wasn't stolen, standing by Donald Trump´s assertion that Democrat Joe Biden won the White House because of mass voter fraud, during an appearance on Fox News
Fox's Chris Wallace asked Scalise directly, twice, whether or not the Senator 'thought the election was stolen' - Scalise refused to give a straight answer each time
Pressed by Wallace on whether the election went beyond a few irregularities to be considered 'stolen,' Scalise doubled down.
'It´s not just irregularities - it's states that did not follow the laws set which the Constitution says they´re supposed to follow.'
Scalise appeared to be referring to the legal argument, made in several lawsuits backed by Trump before and after last November's election, that the Constitution gives the power of election administration exclusively to state lawmakers.
The suits sought to invalidate a number of pandemic-era accommodations including expanded mail voting that were put in place by governors, state election officials and judges.
The high court ultimately turned away the cases, declining to rule on the matter. There´s no indication in any of the suits that changing the COVID-19 accommodations would have altered a state´s election results.
'But the states all certified [that Joe Biden won,' shot back Wallace on the segment.
'Right, but at the end of the day, are we gonna follow what the Constitution says or not?' Scalise replied. 'I hope we get back to what the Constitution says. But clearly in a number of states, they didn't follow those legislatively-set rules.'
Wallace asked Scalise directly, twice, whether or not the Senator 'thought the election was stolen' - Scalise refused to give a straight answer each time.
House Minority Whip, Representative Steve Scalise (pictured left with Donald Trump on October 11, 2019), repeatedly refused to say on Sunday that the 2020 election wasn't stolen, standing by Donald Trump´s assertion that Democrat Joe Biden won the White House because of mass voter fraud
'That is what the United States Constitution says. They don´t say the states determine what the rules are. They say the state legislatures determine the rules,' the Louisiana congressman said in an interview with Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday' of the 2020 election. Pictured are ballots being examined and recounted by contractors working for the Florida-based company 'Cyber Ninjas' at the Veterans Memorial Colosseum in Phoenix
In an interview with Stephen Colbert last month, Wallace said that he's tried to keep 'Big Lie' pushers off his show:
'There are plenty of people who were the leaders in the Congress of challenging [the election] that I just have... purposefully not had on the show, because I don't frankly wanna hear their crap,' Wallace said.
Trump left office in January a few weeks after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in a violent riot in an attempt to prevent Congress from formally declaring Biden the winner.
As Trump mulls a 2024 presidential bid, he has been intensifying efforts to shame - and potentially remove - members of his party who are seen as disloyal to his bogus claims that last year´s election was illegitimate.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who is vying to become speaker if the GOP takes control after the 2022 midterm election, continues to defend Trump and his false assertions.
Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who is serving on a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, on Sunday slammed Scalise on Twitter for spreading what she called Trump´s 'Big Lie'
'Millions of Americans have been sold a fraud that the election was stolen,' Representative Liz Cheney (pictured) tweeted. 'Republicans have a duty to tell the American people that this is not true. Perpetuating the Big Lie is an attack on the core of our constitutional republic'
At a rally Saturday in Iowa, Trump spent almost 30 minutes arguing falsely that he had won Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds stood by and welcomed his return to their state.
Trump's former attorney general, William Barr, found no evidence of widespread election corruption.
Allegations of massive voting fraud also have been dismissed by a succession of judges and refuted by state election officials and an arm of the Homeland Security Department during the Trump administration.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who is serving on a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, on Sunday slammed Scalise for spreading Trump´s 'Big Lie.'
'Millions of Americans have been sold a fraud that the election was stolen,' Cheney tweeted. 'Republicans have a duty to tell the American people that this is not true. Perpetuating the Big Lie is an attack on the core of our constitutional republic.'
At a rally Saturday in Iowa (pictured), Trump spent almost 30 minutes arguing falsely that he had won Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds stood by and welcomed his return to their state
Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney (R), who is serving on a House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection (pictured), on Sunday slammed Scalise for spreading Trump´s 'Big Lie.'
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