Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who has been one of the few Republican lawmakers to criticize Donald Trump throughout his presidency, slammed the president on Thursday for failing to commit to a peaceful transition of power and claiming that the election was “stolen” from him.
During an interview with Democratic strategist David Axelrod, Romney said he was surprised that so many voters are buying into Trump’s bogus voter fraud claims.
“I’m surprised that there are as many people… that give it credibility,” he said. “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.”
Romney said that he was shocked to see that Trump has been pushing false claims while his own lawyers haven’t been able to offer any concrete evidence of voter fraud.
“It’s one thing to charge a crime before you see any evidence,” Romney explained. “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.”
Romney is one of only a few Republican lawmakers who have congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on his victory.
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