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Sep 17, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Senate Republicans reject Trump claim that election results may "never" be known

Jacob Knutson
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaking with reporters in July.

Sen. Marco Rubio speaking with reporters in July. Photo: Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Multiple Senate Republicans on Thursday disavowed President Trump's claim that the results of the 2020 election may remain unknown indefinitely, Politico reports.

Why it matters: Twitter flagged a tweet of the president's on Thursday as a potentially misleading statement after he said without evidence that because of mail-in ballots: "the Nov 3rd Election result may NEVER BE ACCURATELY DETERMINED, which is what some want."

What they're saying:

  • Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.): “It’s just not accurate. I don’t think we’ll have inaccurate election results," Rubio said, per Politico. “They may take a lot longer than they ever have because of the amount of mailed ballots that are going to come in and so forth. But I don’t have any concerns about the accuracy of the election.”
  • Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.): “I’m confident the election process is going to work just fine.”
  • Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah): “We will know the results of the November election.”
  • Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) defended no-excuses-needed absentee ballots, saying they have worked "very well" in her state.
  • Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he is concerned that results might be unclear until after Election Day, but “eventually” the U.S. will have a winner.
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he has “no reason to believe” the results will be inaccurate.

Meanwhile, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is privately encouraging voting by mail and warned Trump that the GOP could be "screwed" by his fight against mail-in voting, Axios' Alayna Treene writes.

The big picture: FBI Director Chris Wray told Congress on Thursday that his greatest concern related to election security is the "steady drumbeat of misinformation and sort of amplification of smaller cyber intrusions" that could sow distrust in the results of the election.

  • Wray called for confidence in the electoral process, but said he fears "people will take on a feeling of futility because of all of the noise and confusion that’s generated, and that’s a very hard problem to combat."
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