Obama slams Republicans for embracing election conspiracy theories

Former President Obama in an interview with CNN broadcast Monday criticized "large portions of Congress" for "going along with the falsehood that there were problems" with the 2020 election.

Driving the news: Obama noted to CNN's Anderson Cooper that Republicans spoke out against former President Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, but then "poof, suddenly everybody was back in line."

• "Now, the reason for that is because the base believed it and the base believed it because this had been told to them not just by the President, but by the media that they watch," Obama said.
• He added that it's his hope that "the tides will turn," but that would "require each of us to understand that this experiment in democracy is not self-executing. It doesn't happen just automatically."

The other side: Republican National Committee spokesperson Emma Vaughn said in an emailed statement, "Democrats will continue to spin partisan theatrics and peddle lies about Republicans in order to avoid talking about the compounding failures of the Biden-Harris administration.

• "The Republican Party is united in our efforts to protect the sanctity of our electoral process and stop Biden and the Democrats' radical policies by taking back the House and Senate in 2022."
• Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Vaughn.