During a heated interview on ABC News on Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) complained that he was being called a “liar” after being confronted by host George Stephanopoulos for refusing to admit that the 2020 election was not stolen and for spreading misinformation about voter fraud (video below).
Asked if whether he can accept that the election was not stolen, Paul refused to respond with a straight answer, claiming instead that there has to be a debate about voter fraud in the November presidential contest.
“This election was not stolen. Do you accept that fact?” Stephanopoulos said.
“The debate over whether or not there’s fraud should occur,” Paul opined. “But, yes, were there people who voted twice? Were there dead people, illegal aliens who voted? Yes. And we should get to the bottom of it.”
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“I have to stop you there,” Stephanopoulos said. “No election is perfect. But there were 86 challenges, they were filed by President Trump and his allies in court. All dismissed.”
A visibly irritated Paul tried to interrupt but Stephanopoulos continued.
“There were counts and recounts,” Stephanopoulos continued. “The Department of Justice, led by William Barr, said there’s no widespread evidence of fraud. Can’t you just say the words: This election was not stolen?”
“What I would suggest is if we want greater confidence in our elections — and 75% of Republicans agree with me — is that we do need to look at election integrity and we do need to see if we can restore confidence in the elections,” Paul remarked.
“Well, 75% of Republicans agree with you because they were fed a big lie by President Trump and his supporters who say the election was stolen,” Stephanopoulos pressed. “Why can’t you say it was a fair election?”
“I think you make a mistake,” Paul interrupted. “Hey, George! Georgie, where you make a mistake is that people coming from the liberal side like you, you immediate say everything’s a lie instead of saying there are two sides to everything. Historically what would happen is if I said I thought there was fraud, you would introduce someone else who said there wasn’t. But now you insert yourself in the middle and say that the absolute fact is that everything I’m saying is a lie.”
“I said what the president said was he said was a lie!” Stephanopoulos pushed back. “Hold on a second! He said the election was stolen. This election was not stolen. The results were certified in every single state after counts and recounts!”
“You’re saying there was not fraud and it’s all been investigated,” Paul complained. “And that’s just not true.”
“That’s not what I said, sir,” the ABC host asserted. “I said the Department of Justice found no evidence.”
“You said it’s all a lie!” Paul shouted.
“Let me finish my point,” Stephanopoulos implored.
“You say we are all liars!” Paul insisted. “You’re just simply saying we’re all liars.”
“I said it was a lie that the election was stolen,” Stephanopoulos affirmed.
Here’s the entire interview from ABC News:
