Mitch McConnell blames Democrats for election fraud carried out by GOP

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has finally spoken out about the massive election fraud Republicans carried out in a North Carolina House race in the 2018 midterm elections.

But instead of condemning the Republican campaign for breaking the law and irreparably tainting the election, McConnell decided to bend the facts and blame the fraud on Democrats because they don’t back needless voter ID laws.

Let’s break down McConnell’s lie-ridden statement that he made Tuesday on the Senate floor.

On Senate floor, @senatemajldr McConnell shamelessly blames Dems for Mark Harris' election fraud in North Carolina, because Dems haven't supported voter ID laws. pic.twitter.com/PGZw23p4PU

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 26, 2019

“For years and years, every Republican who dared to call for commonsense safeguards for Americans’ ballots was demonized by Democrats and their allies,” McConnell said.

“We were hit with left-wing talking points insisting voter fraud wasn’t real! Never happens, they said! Well, that fraud just didn’t happen if modest efforts to ensure that voters are who they say they are and are voting in the proper place were really some sinister right-wing plot to prevent people from voting.”

First, one thing very clear: What happened in North Carolina’s 9th District wasn’t voter fraud.

Voter fraud is when someone who is ineligible to vote casts a ballot in an election or tries to impersonate someone else in order to cast a ballot.

Instead, what happened was election fraud, in which an operative hired by Republican Mark Harris’ campaign illegally harvested absentee ballots from eligible voters and illegally filled them out.

A voter ID law, which requires voters to present their IDs in order to cast ballots in person, would not have impacted this instance of fraud whatsoever. That is, unless McConnell is against absentee ballots.

But an incredulous McConnell went on with his phony argument about voter fraud.

“So now you might expect, now that an incident of very real voter fraud has become national news and the Republican candidate seems — seems — to have benefitted, these long-standing Democratic talking points have been really quiet,” McConnell said, appearing to even cast doubt on the massive election fraud carried out by a candidate from his own party.

Again, it wasn’t voter fraud that occurred. And it’s Republicans who should be forced to answer why they were all deafeningly silent about this case of election fraud until the GOP candidate was forced to call for a new election instead of perjuring himself on the witness stand during a hearing on the illegal scheme.

Some Republicans have commented on the election fraud. But like McConnell, it’s to make bad faith arguments blaming it on Democrats.

Of course, both sides are not to blame here.

Republicans did wrong in North Carolina, and in order to skirt responsibility they’re seeking to shift responsibility on Democrats, who were the innocent victims of GOP’s attempt to steal an election.

But there’s a way to punish Republicans for this: The North Carolina State Board of Elections called for a new election in the tainted 9th District race.

Voters will get the chance to tell the GOP what they think about their blatant election stealing attempt.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.