Tim Scott: 'I do not believe the election was stolen'

United States Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), during a Friday night town hall in Iowa, rejected the claim that the 2020 election was rigged against former President Donald Trump, NBC reports.

Per NBC, the 2024 Republican hopeful "has previously cast doubt on Trump's claims but without going as far as he did Friday."

Earlier this year, according to The Hill, "When asked for his thoughts on Trump's behavior after the 2020 election that led to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Scott responded he wants to focus on his vision for the future instead of having a conversation about Trump, noting that he was at the Capitol during the riot."

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However, during the recent Iowa event, Scott took his stance a step further, saying, "I do not believe the election was stolen. There was cheating, but was the election stolen? There's a difference. I think [in] every election there's cheating."

Nearly one year after the 2020 election, an Associated Press report found "fewer than 475 potential instances" of voter fraud "out of more than 25 million votes cast," according to PBS, which the report determined is "a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election."

Scott's comments come nearly two months after his GOP rival and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley condemned the Jan. 6 attack, saying, "I don't know enough about each individual [rioter] but that's my rule: If you break the law, you pay the price. And so I think that's the way we need to look at it."

READ MORE: 'You pay the price': Nikki Haley denounces Jan. 6 during Iowa visit

NBC's full report is available at this link. The Hill's report is here. PBS' report is here. Associated Press' report is here.