A vocal group of lawmakers on the GOP’s right flank has embraced Trump’s repeated, unfounded arguments that his loss to President Joe Biden was tainted, some even declining throughout the year to say directly that Biden is the duly elected president. As the former president keeps pushing the same disenfranchisement rhetoric that helped propel the violence of Jan. 6, dozens more House Republicans have remained silent. Some worry Trump’s false allegations might depress their base, but they’re not distancing themselves.
“I think he’s reflecting the view of most of our base that are concerned, because there was election fraud” in 2020, said Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the House GOP conference secretary, of Trump. “There are a lot of Republicans out there worrying about it. So I think he is probably reflecting that accurate belief that we have to shore this stuff up.”…
Trump’s latest comment on voter fraud set off fresh alarms last month, when he warned that “Republicans will not be voting in ‘22 or ‘24” until “the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020” is solved. Top Republicans have privately fretted that Democrats only stand to gain from such statements that risk alienating their base.
“Look no further than the two Democrat senators from Georgia. Without Trump depressing the vote there, they would not have gotten elected,” said one senior Republican lawmaker, speaking candidly on condition of anonymity.
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