Steve Scalise was a guest on George Stephanopoulos’s ABC News Sunday show, This Week. The host led off a segment about the 2020 election with a video clip of Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) giving his opinion of Republican leadership. Note: Buck is a member of the House Freedom Caucus — the most far-right group in the far-right GOP. No one can accuse him of socialist leanings.
Ken Buck: "Our nation is on a collision course with reality. And a steadfast commitment to truth, even uncomfortable truths, is the only way forward. Too many Republican leaders are lying to America, claiming that the 2020 election was stolen."
Stephanopoulos used the quote to tee up a straightforward question:
"He said that you're one of those leaders who has been unequivocal in saying it was a clean election, that Joe Biden did not steal the election. Your response?"
Scalise was obviously horrified. He knows that if it gets out that he told the truth, Trump will emasculate him on Truth Social, and the MAGAs will want to kill his dog and burn his house down. Yet, hedging his bets, possibly contemplating a post-Trump future, Scalise will not say the election was stolen. So he just avoided the question — nine times.
Scalise evasion #1
“Well, Ken, I’ve worked with, on a number of issues, including getting spending under control, getting our economy back on track. He's talked about that 2020 election as well. You and I have, I think, have talked about that too. At the end of the day, getting our country back on track is our focus.
Scalise then talked about the border, terrorist watch lists, the economy, energy prices, Hamas, Iran, and how weak the Biden administration is.
Stephanopoulos tried again: “Can you say unequivocally the 2020 election was not stolen?”
Scalise evasion #2
“What I’ve told you, there are states that didn’t follow their laws. That is what the state constitution – the U.S. Constitution requires. You know, I've seen in my own state where we had to send our elections commissioner to jail years ago for fraud and corruption. And we cleaned up our act in our state. Every state ought to follow the laws that are on their books. That’s what the U.S. Constitution says."
Note: The elections commissioner Scalise refers to is the now-deceased Jerry Fowler. Twenty-three years ago, Fowler pled guilty to bilking the state out of $900,000. He was not charged, or even accused, of fixing elections. Quite the opposite, he was responsible for computerizing the Louisiana election system. Thus reducing the opportunity for local officials to rig the vote. Obviously, computers ensuring an honest election does not fit the MAGA narrative.
Stephanopoulos tried again: “That’s not what I asked. I said, can you say unequivocally that the 2020 election was not stolen?
Scalise evasion #3
"Look, Joe Biden’s president. I know you and others want to talk about 2020. We’re focused on the future. We’ve talked about 2020 a lot. We're talking about how to get our country back on track, how to get our economy moving, how to stand up to the bad actors around the world."
Scalise then talked about Xi, China, Taiwan, Russia, Hamas, GOP passing bills, and how awful Biden is.
Stephanopoulos tried again. “Congressman, I know that Joe Biden is president. I'm asking you a different question. Can you say unequivocally that the 2020 election was not stolen?”
Scalise evasion #4
“What I’ve told you, and you’ve -- you've seen this -- there are states that didn't follow the laws that are on their books, which is what the U.S. Constitution says they have to do.”
Stephanopoulos tried again: “So you -- so you just refuse to say unequivocally that the 2020 election was not stolen?”
Scalise evasion #5
“So, you want to keep rehashing 2020. We’re talking about the future of (INAUDIBLE) threats this country.”
Stephanopoulos tried again: “I just want an answer to the question, yes or no?”
Scalise evasion #6
“We've asked – look, we've talked about this before. But, again, will you acknowledge that there were states that didn't follow the actual state legislative enacted laws on their book, which the U.S. Constitution says they’re supposed to do? Do you know that?”
Stephanopoulos tried again: “I know that every single – I know that every court that looked at whether the election was stolen said it wasn't, rejected those claims. And I asked you a very, very simple question. Now I've asked it, I think, the fifth time that you can't appear to answer. Can you say unequivocally that the 2020 election was not stolen?”
Scalise evasion #7
I told you – I told you there were a handful – there were a handful of – there were a handful of states that didn't follow their laws. The rest did. The rest followed. And, again, states that Trump won, States that Biden won that did follow their laws, there were a handful of states that didn’t follow the laws that were on the books. They went to secretaries of state to change the rules of the game and then the voters didn't know what the rules were because ultimately the state laws weren't followed in those states. That's not what the U.S. Constitution says. At some point, we should go back to following the Constitution, George.
Stephanopoulos tried again: “The courts have all followed the Constitution. They all rejected the claims you just made. And I just want to say, again, for the record, you cannot say -- you cannot say that the 2020 election was not stolen?”
Scalise evasion #8
“Or they said there was no standard. They’re – some of them they didn’t reject some of those (INAUDIBLE) standing.”
Stephanopoulos tried again: “Yes or no, was the 2020 election stolen?”
Scalise evasion #9
“What I've told you is Joe Biden's the president of the United States, and right now, he's failing the country on so many fronts that matter to families.”
He then went on to talk about families, the border, Democratic mayors, terror watch lists, terrorists, drugs, bills the GOP has passed, and how Biden is not doing anything.
Scalise concludes by saying the GOP is “going to talk about the future and how to help these families who are struggling across America.” Scalise should tell his Dear Leader leader that. Trump talks about the past incessantly. And his only future plans involve how he is going to get revenge on his enemies.
Stephanopoulos gave up: “Thanks for your time this morning, Steve.”