Following the 2020 presidential election,  Chris Cillizza, CNN’s recently fired politics editor, observing a Quinnipiac poll, stated that “76% of self-identified Republicans… said they believe there was ‘widespread fraud in the 2020 election.’” Yet, more Democrats, 78%, believe that the 2016 presidential election was “stolen.” So which party has the greater percentage of election deniers?

Here is a long list, complied by The Republican National Committee, that pinpoints the vast extent of Democrat election denial:

 

FOR DECADES, DEMOCRATS DISPUTED ELECTIONS THAT THEY LOST

• Biden and Democrats have a long history of contesting election outcomes.
• Many Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and Barbra Lee (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), have cast doubt on every single Republican presidential victory in the last two decades.
• Every single Democrat president since 1977 has cast doubt on the legitimacy of U.S. elections.
• As recently as this year, Biden cast doubt on the legitimacy of the upcoming 2022 midterms.

 

DEMOCRATS CALLED THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION “STOLEN”

• For years, Democrats have refused to accept the results of the 2000 presidential election.
• Al Gore repeatedly claimed that he was the real winner of the 2000 election.
  • In 2002, Gore claimed he “would have won” if every vote in Florida was counted and that he “absolutely” believed he would become president after the ordered recount.
  • Gore’s wife, Tipper, said that “I still believe we won.”
  • In 2016, Gore brought up the 2000 election during a rally for Hillary Clinton and did not refute chants from the audience saying he won.
  • In 2017, Gore implied Jeb Bush “may have had something” to do with him losing Florida.
  • Gore, in 2017: “Actually, I think I carried Florida.”
• Hillary Clinton, more than once, questioned the legitimacy of the 2000 election.
  • In 2002, Clinton said Bush had been “selected” and not elected president.
  • In 2016, Clinton said that the Supreme Court “took away a presidency” in Bush v. Gore.
• Then-President Bill Clinton in 2001 claimed that Gore actually won the election, suggesting that all the votes in Florida were not counted and that the Supreme Court had altered the outcome.
  • Clinton: “The only way [Republicans] could win the election was to stop the voting in Florida.”
• Former President Jimmy Carter has repeatedly denied the results of the 2000 election.
  • Carter, in 2005: “There is no doubt in my mind that Al Gore was elected president.”
  • Carter, in 2014: “I don’t think that George W. Bush won the election in 2000.”
• Terry McAuliffe repeated claims that the 2000 election was “stolen” for over two decades.
  • Repeatedly in 2001, then-DNC Chairman McAuliffe claimed that Al Gore won the election.
  • In 2004, McAuliffe falsely accused Republicans of “stealing” the 2000 presidential election.
  • In 2008, McAuliffe accused Republicans of “stealing” the 2000 election in his autobiography.
  • In 2017, McAuliffe once again claimed that Al Gore “did win the election.”
  • In 2021, McAuliffe doubled down on his previous “stolen” election claims and refused to say that Bush won the 2000 election.
• Former presidential candidate Rev. Jessie Jackson, Sr. said Gore’s election was “essentially taken and stolen.”
• Former DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) in 2016 said that Al Gore won Florida.
• Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a member of the January 6^th Committee, has repeatedly suggested the 2000 election was illegitimate.
  • In 2002, Raskin wrote that the Supreme Court had “[frozen] the election results” in an “outrageous assault on democracy,” saying the Court had “ determine[d] the outcome of a presidential election.”
  • In 2003, Raskin called Bush America’s first “court-appointed president.”
• 15 House Democrats even objected to counting Florida’s electoral votes.
  • Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) questioned the 2000 Florida election results, calling them “fraudulent” and staging a walkout of the House chamber.
  • Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) questioned the integrity of the election and “the future of our democracy.”
  • Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) claimed that there was “overwhelming evidence” that Bush did not win the 2000 election and vowed there would be “no peace” as a result.
  • Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) called the Florida electoral count “inaccurate.”
  • ​Former Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) said that Bush “was not elected,” saying in 2004 that Bush was chosen by the Supreme Court and that the election was stolen in a “coup d’état.”

 

DEMOCRATS RDISPUTE THE 2004 ELECTION

• The election in 2004 was no different than 2000, with Democrats once again denying the results of an election they did not agree with.
• In 2005, then-Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and then-Rep. Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH) filed an objection to the certification of Ohio’s electoral college votes.
• 31 House Democrats voted to reject electoral votes from the state of Ohio, including Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Barbra Lee (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), James Clyburn (D-SC), and now-Senator Ed Markey (D-MA).
• In 2005, House Democrats authored a report claiming there were “‘numerous, serious election irregularities” in Ohio’s presidential vote.
• John Kerry raised questions about the election on multiple occasions, claiming that many voters were “denied their right to vote; too many who tried to vote were intimidated.”
  • In November 2005, New York University professor Mark Crispin Miller said that John Kerry told him he thought “the election was stolen.”
  • Kerry’s wife Teresa Heinz Kerry also claimed the presidential election could have been hacked and stolen.
• In 2004, then-DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe commissioned a “comprehensive investigative study on election practices in Ohio” to address “legitimate questions and concerns.”
• In 2006, then-DNC Chairman Howard Dean stated that he was “not confident that the election in Ohio was fairly decided” in 2004.
  • In 2008, Dean accused Republicans of stealing elections and inferred they stole the election in 2004.
• Then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) questioned the “integrity” of electronic voting machines in the 2004 election.
• In January 2005, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) claimed there were many “legitimate” questions regarding the “accuracy” and “integrity” of the 2004 election.
• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) applauded objections to the 2004 election and thanked Sen. Boxer for objecting to Ohio’s electoral votes, saying voters can’t be confident their vote will be counted.
• Then-Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) applauded Sen. Boxer and Rep. Tubbs Jones for objecting to Ohio’s electoral votes, calling their objections an “important service for American democracy.”
  • Harkin also accused Republicans of a “concerted effort to suppress the vote” and suggested electronic voting machines could lead to “serious fraud.”
• Then-Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in 2005 applauded Democrat efforts to contest the 2004 election, called the election “flawed,” and suggested problems may have been the result of “manipulation.”
• Then-Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) alleged “systematic voter disenfranchisement” and faulty voting machines in the 2004 election.
• In September 2008, then-Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) joked about the 2004 election, saying it helps that in Ohio “Democrats are in charge of the [voting] machines” in the upcoming election.
• Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) questioned the use and efficacy of electronic voting machines in the 2004 election.
• In January 2005, then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) praised Sen. Boxer’s challenge of the election, saying the debate is “fundamental to our democracy.”
  • Pelosi said it is “appropriate” to have the debate concerning the 2004 election and claimed that there were “legitimate concerns” regarding the “integrity” of U.S. elections.
• Then-Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) argued the 2004 election was “riddled with unnecessary problems.”
• Danny Davis (D-IL) claimed the 2004 election contained widespread “fraud.”
• Then-Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) claimed that “dirty tricks occurred across the state” of Ohio in the 2004 election.
• Then-Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) blamed “inadequate and malfunctioning” electronic voting machines for “numerous irregularities.”
• Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) claimed democracy was once again “thwarted” in 2004 and blamed the use of electronic voting machines for voter suppression.
• Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) said, “the system of voting broke down Nov. 2, 2004” and called for an independent audit of discarded ballots.
  • Jackson Lee then said, “we cannot declare that the election of November 2^nd, 2004 was free and clear and transparent and real for all of those who attempted to vote.”
• Then-Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-CA) in 2005 attacked the efficacy of voting machines saying they “can’t be trusted.”
• Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) repeatedly claimed there were irregularities in the 2004 election.
  • In November 2004, Nadler said that “we are requesting an investigation into all the allegations, of irregularities with respect to the electronic and other voting machines.”
  • In November 2004, Nadler said that “well, we have received…any number of communications, e-mails, everything about all kinds of irregularities.”
  • In December 2004, Nadler said that “paper ballots are extremely susceptible to fraud.”
  • In January 2005, Nadler said the right to vote was “stolen” from voters.
• Then-Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) cast doubt on the security of electronic voting machines in the 2004 election saying he was “worried” that some machines do not have a paper trail.
• Then-Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Boxer And Tubbs performed a “very valuable public service” and stated he was concerned with all “reports of voting problems in many parts of the country.”
• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said the problems with the Ohio election could have been “outcome determinative.”
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2006 wrote an op-ed claiming that Republicans “stole” the 2004 election.
• Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. “questioned the legitimacy” of the election and suggested the Bush victory was the result of “fraud and stealing.”

 

DEMOCRATS DISPUTE THE 2016 ELECTION

• In 2017, seven House Democrats tried to object to the 2016 election electoral votes.
• After President Trump’s victory in 2016, 67 Democrats boycotted his inauguration, with many “claiming his election was illegitimate.”
• After the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the election and claimed the election was stolen from her.
  • In September 2017, Hillary Clinton said she would not “rule out” questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 election.
  • In March 2019, Clinton smiled in agreement when former State Sen. Hank Sanders (D-AL) said the election was stolen from her.
  • In May 2019, Clinton said the 2016 election was “stolen” from her.
  • In September 2019, Clinton dismissed Trump as an “illegitimate president” and said “he knows” he stole the 2016 presidential election.
  • In October 2019, Clinton said that Trump knows that he is “an illegitimate president.”
  • In December 2019, Clinton nodded in agreement that she won the election.
  • In July 2020, Clinton said Trump is scared for Americans to see “how illegitimate his victory” was.
  • In October 2020, Clinton claimed that the 2016 presidential election was not conducted legitimately, saying, “we still don’t really know what happened.”
• Former President Jimmy Carter said he believed that “a full investigation” would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016.
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said “I believe” Russian interference altered the outcome of the election.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) dodged answering whether Trump was “a legitimate president.”
• Rep Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) said the “legitimacy is in question” of Trump’s presidency.
• Then-Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) said he did not believe President Trump is a “legitimate president.”
  • Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) “applauded” John Lewis and said that he was “right on target.”
  • Then-Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) said that John Lewis’ remarks on Trump not being legitimately elected “are reasonable.”
• Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said “there absolutely is a cloud of illegitimacy” to Trump’s presidency.
• Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said that Trump’s election was “illegitimate” and that Trump “is an illegitimate president.”
• Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) justified his decision to object to certification saying Republicans engaged in “deliberate voter suppression … in numerous swing states.”
• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) refused to attend President Trump’s inauguration ceremony because Trump’s election victory was “tainted” by “foreign interference and voter suppression.”
• Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) refused to say if Trump was a “legitimate president.”

 

DEMOCRATS CAST DOUBT ON OTHER ELECTIONS

• In 2018, Stacey Abrams refused to concede after losing the Georgia governor’s race and repeatedly challenged the “legitimacy of the election” after her loss.
  • Following her defeat, Abrams never conceded and continued to argue that she truly won the election.
  • Abrams said she would not concede a race that was an “erosion of our democracy,” was “not a free and fair election,” and was simply “not just.”
  • She called her defeat “fully attributable to voter suppression” and argued there was widespread voter disenfranchisement.
• Many other prominent Democrats supported Abrams in her stolen election claims:
  • Hillary Clinton said Stacey Abrams “would have won” Georgia’s gubernatorial race “if she had a fair election” and that Stacey Abrams “should be governor” but was “deprived of the votes [she] otherwise would have gotten.”
  • Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said “I think that Stacey Abrams’s election is being stolen from her.”
  • Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said that “if Stacey Abrams doesn’t win in Georgia, they stole it.”
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said “the evidence seems to suggest” the race was stolen from Stacey Abrams.
  • Former Vermont Governor and DNC chair Howard Dean said Abrams “should not concede” and that the election was “almost certainly stolen.”
  • Obama Attorney General Eric Holder said “I tend to think Stacey Abrams won that election.”
• After losing his Florida gubernatorial race in 2018, Andrew Gillum withdrew his concession and pointed to “questions over the handling of the vote” in certain counties.
• In 2020, after losing his House race, former Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY) called for authorities to investigate voting irregularities and issues of “massive disenfranchisement of voters.”
• Former State Sen. Rita Hart (D-IA) contested the election results of her House race loss in 2020, arguing that ballots were improperly rejected.

 

BIDEN AND HIS OFFICIALS MAKE STOLEN ELECTION CLAIMS

• In both 2013, and in 2016, Biden claimed that Gore won the 2000 presidential election.
  • In May 2019, Biden said he “absolutely agrees” that Trump is an “illegitimate president.”
• Kamala Harris has repeatedly cast doubt on election results over the years.
  • Following the Georgia gubernatorial race in 2018, Kamala Harris claimed that “without voter suppression, Stacey Abrams would be the governor of Georgia” and that Gillum would be “the governor of Florida.”
  • In 2019, Harris agreed that Trump was an “illegitimate president.”
• Multiple Biden administration officials have a history of denying election results.
  • For nearly two decades, Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain claimed that Al Gore won the 2000 election.
  • Biden Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted that the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race was stolen.
  • Jean-Pierre also cast doubt on the 2016 election, tweeting “stolen election …..welcome to the world of #unpresidented Trump.”
  • Kamala Harris’ Communications Director Jamal Simmons for years tweeted that Bush “stole” the 2000 election.
• Cedric Richmond – Biden’s former Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement – said that John Lewis’ remarks on Trump not being legitimately elected were “reasonable.”
• Then-Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), now Biden’s HUD Secretary, said that Trump “may not be a legitimate president.”
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