A Republican senator is refusing to explicitly reject former President Donald Trumpâs claim that the 2020 Presidential Election was an âinsurrection.â
During an appearance on MSNBCâs âMeet The Pressâ on Sunday, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) was asked about Trumpâs recent claim that the last presidential election, and not the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, was an âinsurrection.â
Host Andrea Mitchell asked, âWas Election Day an insurrection?â
âYou know, I think the election was what it was,â Blunt responded. âThereâs a process you go through that determines whether or not the early reports were the right reports, and we went through that process.â
He continued, âIâm of the view that the best thing President Trump can do to help us win majorities in 2022 is talk about the future. And he can be an important part of this â22 effort. But I think better off to talk about the future than to focus on the past in every election.â
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In a statement on Thursday, Trump claimed, âThe insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!â
The Associated Press fact-checked his statement and noted, âThere was no insurrection on Election Day. There was a free and fair election won by Democrat Joe Biden.â
âDespite Trumpâs repeated claims, no evidence of widespread corruption has ever been found. Every state has certified its results as fair and accurate, and numerous state and federal election officials â including Trumpâs own attorney general at the time â have said there was no evidence of systemic fraud or errors of a scale that could have possibly change the outcome,â the outlet noted.
The AP added that on Jan. 6, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, smashed windows, chanted âHang Mike Pence,â and fought with law enforcement officers in a bid to stop the certification of the election results.
Additionally, it noted that nine people died during and after the riot.
