Former White House national security adviser John Bolton called President Donald Trump’s claims that widespread election fraud took place in battleground states “baseless” and “all blue smoke and mirrors” during a Sunday morning appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
Trump has thus far refused to concede an election that saw heavy mail-in ballot use in favor of President-elect Joe Biden that turned the tide in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, instead choosing to file a wave of lawsuits alleging voting irregularities.
Asked by ABC’s Martha Raddatz about how Republican Party leaders should address doubts about the integrity of the election expressed by Trump and many of his supporters, Bolton called for them to explain that the claims are “baseless.”
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“The fact is that we’ve seen litigation in all the key battleground states and it has failed consistently,” Bolton said. “Right now the Trump campaign is doing the legal equivalent of pitching pennies. Where are their silver dollars? Where’s the evidence? I think as every day goes by, it’s clearer and clearer that there isn’t any evidence.”
“If the Republican voters are only hearing Donald Trump’s misrepresentations, it’s not surprising that they believe it,” Bolton added. “It’s critical for other Republican leaders to stand up and explain what actually happened. Donald Trump lost what by any evidence we have so far was a free and valid election.”
The former United Nations ambassador called it a “character test for the Republican Party” that requires people to “explain what happened.” (RELATED: Here’s How Mail-In Ballots Are Counted And Verified To Prevent Fraud)
“The Trump campaign simply has no evidence,” he said. “Their basic argument is this was a conspiracy so vast and so successful that there’s no evidence of it. If that’s true, I really want to know who the people are who pulled this off. We need to hire them at the CIA. The fact is this is all blue smoke and mirrors.”