2023-08-07 18:32:01
NEW YORK (AP) — After years of mixed responses, Florida Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has acknowledged that his rival Donald Trump has lost the 2020 election.
“Of course he lost,” DeSantis said in an interview with NBC News published Monday. “Joe Biden is the president.”
DeSantis has frequently dodged questions about whether he believes the 2020 election results were legitimate. But in recent days he has begun to publicly question the lies that Trump and his allies have told about the legitimacy of the election.
Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general said there was no credible evidence that the election result was affected by fraud. The former president’s accusations were also roundly rejected by the courts at the time, including judges he appointed.
Last week, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with four felony counts related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the lead up to violent riots by his supporters on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.
DeSantis’ shift in rhetoric comes as he seeks to restart his stalled 2024 White House campaign. Trump, who remains wildly popular with the GOP base, is the challenger leading the way in the 2020 Republican presidential primary. next year.
DeSantis did not offer a clear answer early in the interview when asked if Trump lost, saying, “Whoever puts their hand on the Bible on January 20 every four years is the winner.” But he gave a more direct answer when pressed again.
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