WASHINGTON (AP) — Key Republican lawmakers, including 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, on Friday slammed President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election. But some GOP leaders struck a more neutral tone — and others urged the White House to fight.
Romney, now a senator from Utah, said Trump was within his rights to request recounts and call for investigations where evidence of irregularities exists.
But Trump “is wrong to say the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen,″ Romney said on Twitter. Trump’s claim ”damages the cause of freedom here and around the world ... and recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions,″ he said.
Romney is Trump’s most vocal critic within the Republican Party and voted to convict Trump in the president’s impeachment trial earlier this year.
His comments came as GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania — whose state is a key battleground in the presidential election, where votes are still being tallied — called Trump’s claim of fraud “very disturbing.”
“There’s simply no evidence anyone has shown me of any widespread corruption or fraud,” Toomey told “CBS This Morning.”
“The president’s speech last night was very disturbing to me because he made very, very serious allegations without any evidence to support it,” said Toomey.
While he voted for Trump, “I want the next president to be the person who legitimately wins the Electoral College and I will accept whoever that is,″ Toomey said.
Trump, who has complained for weeks about mail-in ballots, escalated his allegations late Thursday, saying at the White House that the ballot-counting process is unfair and corrupt. Trump did not back up his claims with any details or evidence, and state and federal officials have not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
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