“It’s absurd,” said Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, when asked about the remarks of Perdue, his former colleague. “I think the effort to try and overturn an election when there is, at this stage, no evidence of widespread fraud is detrimental to democracy and insulting to the American public.”

“Hell yes,” one of Perdue’s closest Senate friends told CNN when asked if he was surprised by his ex-colleague’s campaign transformation.

“I don’t know whether he believes it or not. I really don’t,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican. “But I’m sure it’s a political strategy.”…

“My assumption is that when he was persuaded to run, that was part of the conversation,” South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said when asked about Perdue’s claims. “But it doesn’t sound like it’s working very well — at least right now.”