US

Cuomo And Rep. Gaetz Clash Over Misconduct In Florida Vote Tallying

CNN

Amber Athey Podcast Columnist
Font Size:

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo and Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz got into a heated debate Friday over the alleged election misconduct in Florida.

Governor Rick Scott filed lawsuits Friday alleging that the election supervisors in Broward and Palm Beach counties were not following election law. Judges ruled in his favor and demanded the supervisors in the respective counties turn over election information to Scott’s team.

Cuomo alleged that despite the lack of transparency, there is no evidence of “fraud” or “cheating” as Scott claims. (RELATED: Cuomo Says Trump Got ‘Shellacked’ In Midterm ‘Popular Vote’)

“It is hard to get the proof of fraud when the very proof itself is being hidden by the Broward County supervisor of elections,” Gaetz argued. “65 of the 67 counties did everything right and had their returns posted according to law. Only in deep blue Broward and Palm Beach County — familiar to all of us who follow elections — was there yet another persistent challenge.”

WATCH:

“You are right, you should have transparency on all levels,” Cuomo said, before pushing back on the idea that Republicans can allege fraud before having any proof of it.

“You know, as a lawyer, when litigants hide evidence or potentially destroy evidence, there are adverse inferences drawn against those litigants,” Gaetz broke down, noting that the election supervisors have yet to turn over information as the judges demanded.

Cuomo and Gaetz got into a back and forth over whether Palm Beach and Broward’s failures to properly tally votes is due to their size or if the election supervisors are hiding nefarious activity.

“You’re suspicious of the vote count because they’re Democrat strongholds,” Cuomo alleged.

“You’re putting words in my mouth,” Gaetz shot back.

WATCH:

The interview continued with the tense back and forth for several more minutes.

 Follow Amber on Twitter