'That is a lie': Republican obliterated on CNN for defending efforts to overturn election

On Thursday's edition of CNN's "OutFront," anchor Erin Burnett grilled freshman Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), one of many House Republicans who tried to overturn the results of the election.

"Congresswoman, of course you did object to the results in Arizona and Pennsylvania as Congress was certifying them on the day of the deadly insurrection," said Burnett. "So how do you square saying you want to work with President Biden, when you were questioning the legitimacy of the election on January 6th?"

"Well, I went into that floor discussion with an open mind, you know," said Malliotakis. "I didn't personally sign any objections, but I said I was going to listen to what was brought and discussed on the floor. Certainly constituents of mine expressed concerns about irregularities."

"I'm just wondering, when you look back and are honest with yourself, do you feel you sort of bought into a narrative here that we all know was completely false?" said Burnett. "[Donald Trump]'s out there saying 5,000 dead people voted in Georgia. Two dead people voted in Georgia, but rhetoric like that got people like you on board. Do you feel you were duped?"

"I think that there is an issue that there are tens of millions of Americans who are concerned about whether there are safeguards in our election process," said Malliotakis.

"They're concerned because of lies like that," Burnett pushed back. "We're concerned because of lies like that. That is a lie. They heard that. If I heard that and believed it, I might be concerned, too. But it's not true."

"I've never said anything about widespread fraud," said Malliotakis. "I've said that there have been certain irregularities that need to be looked at closer, and the American people deserve to know if that took place in this election, and it appears that it did in some states, and that is all we're asking for, and I think that's very fear, just ease the minds of tens of millions of Americans who feel the election wasn't fair."

"Those tens of millions of Americans think that it wasn't fair because Donald Trump told them that, and that voice of Donald Trump was amplified by other people in power," said Burnett. "Because the reason they believe it wasn't fair is because someone told them it wasn't fair, and it was fair. So what I'm asking you, do you feel that you got duped and played a little bit in this?"

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