Rats jumping ship: Spooked GOP candidates abandon their 2020 Trump lies

NBC News reports that Republican gubernatorial nominees in key battleground states are suddenly eager to duck the topic of Trump’s 2020 election lies as November looms. As the days tick down to the midterm election, some are now acknowledging what they refused to admit before: Joe Biden won.

“Joe Biden won. Wisconsin voters have also spoken clearly on election integrity, banning Zuckerbucks and supporting voter ID,” said Rep. Tom Tiffany in a statement to NBC News, referring to two election-related ballot measures voters have passed in recent years. “In 2028, I’ll certify whoever wins the most votes in Wisconsin.”

But ABC News points out that Tiffany, who is now running for governor in Wisconsin, voted against certifying the 2020 election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania that proclaimed Biden the winner, as did Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) who is now running for governor. Biggs and Tiffany both also signed on to a Texas lawsuit in December 2020 that outright sought to invalidate Biden’s victory.

Additionally, ABC reports Tiffany also supported an FBI investigation of the 2020 election in Wisconsin and has said that he would have voted to overturn his state’s election results if a vote had been held.

It was only after his general election against Democrat David Crowley was well underway — and Trump’s distinct drop in popularity in Wisconsin — that Tiffany acknowledged Biden won the election.

“While questioning or outright denying the outcome of the 2020 election helped these Republicans curry favor with President Donald Trump and his supporters on their way to securing their nominations, the political calculus has changed as they set their sights on swaying independent voters in swing states amid a challenging environment for the party,” reports ABC.

Unlike Tiffany, Biggs still refuses to admit Trump lost the election or lied about his bogus victory. But ABC reports the Arizona Republican is running hard from engaging the topic as he prepares to face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November. When asked “three times by USA Today in July” who won the 2020 election, Biggs refused to answer, reports ABC.

“I’m not going to be critical against Republicans, and we have a lot of people with a lot of diverse viewpoints,” Biggs told USA Today. “The reality is we’re going to win this state by looking forward and having a vision for the state.”

Later, when pressed by The Salt Lake Tribune on whether Biden won, Biggs demanded why the reporter was asking about old news from “six years ago” in the first place.

“Seriously, why are you? I’m going to tell you most Arizonans are like I am. We’re going forward,” said Biggs, still refusing to answer for his support of Trump’s proven lie. Plus, Biggs’ spokesperson did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

And down in Georgia, Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson is similarly coming to terms with a change of mind since his release of a February ad calling Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger a “Judas” for rejecting Trump’s demands to “find” votes after the 2020 election. Four months later he told NBC News that Biden’s victory in 2020 “was a travesty.”

But now, as the president’s polls across the nation and in Georgia take a nosedive, Jackson is laboring to straddle the fence between admitting the obvious while also not angering Trump or his MAGA supporters.

“Rick acknowledges both Biden’s win and that there were issues in the 2020 election that needed to be resolved in order to ensure Georgians have faith in our electoral system,” said Jackson campaign spokesperson Garrison Douglas.