President Donald Trump claims that widespread fraud marked the recent presidential election, but there’s no meaningful evidence to back him up. The Department of Homeland Security concluded that the election was the “most secure in American history,” and local election officials of both major political parties from around the country have not uncovered any evidence of any kind of systematic or election-threatening fraud. Nevertheless, Trump has stuck to his claims, and in a new interview with David Axelrod, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) sounded incredulous over the situation, noting that the president and his allies have alleged criminal activity without seeing any remotely conclusive evidence.
Romney commented to Axelrod as follows:
‘I’m surprised that there are as many people, as you say, that give it credibility, even within our own country, because the president said before the election that if he were to lose, it would be because of voter fraud, it would be because of corruption. And then a day or two after the election, when the vote was called by the major networks, he indicated that there was massive fraud and that he had been robbed. And that was before there was any evidence that had been gathered.’
No meaningful evidence supporting the president’s claims of election fraud has emerged at any point since the immediate aftermath of the election. In court, Trump lawyers have even admitted that their claims didn’t constitute specific allegations of specific fraud. Trump lawyers made such admissions in cases in Arizona and Pennsylvania, the latter of which featured Rudy Giuliani on the president’s legal team. Giuliani himself told the judge in those Pennsylvania proceedings that the Trump team’s challenge was “not a fraud case.” Their allegations seem more like smoke and mirrors than tangible and demonstrable points of contention.
Romney added as follows:
‘It’s one thing to charge a crime before you see any evidence. Normally you find evidence and then after seeing evidence, then you reach a conclusion about whether or not there was a crime committed. But I understand the president is not too happy with the result. He’s entitled to pursue his legal remedies. But I think in all likelihood, it’s pretty clear that Joe Biden will become the next president.’
Listen to Romney’s comments below:
On a NEW #AxeFiles, @MittRomney dryly mocks @realDonaldTrump’s evidence-free cries of vote fraud:
“Normally you find evidence and then after seeing evidence…you reach a conclusion about whether or not there was a crime committed.”
Full pod here👉 https://t.co/2oZsMhHW0s pic.twitter.com/Xkn8rZAEJR— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 19, 2020
Featured Image: Edited & via Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons, available under a Creative Commons License
