Fox News anchor Chris Wallace confronted House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) on Sunday over his support for the Trump-backed Texas lawsuit rejected by the Supreme Court, pressing the conservative lawmaker on his eagerness to toss out millions of votes for President-elect Joe Biden in order to overturn last month’s presidential election.
Scalise, the second-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, joined 125 other House Republicans in signing on to the last-ditch lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that sought to disenfranchise four states whose residents voted for Biden. President Donald Trump and attorneys general from 18 states that voted for Trump also filed briefs in support of the suit, which was tossed by the Supreme Court on Friday.
Noting that the Electoral College will vote on Monday and Biden will have more than enough electors to secure the presidency, Wallace began his Fox News Sunday interview with Scalise by asking him if he’ll stop contesting the election after that key moment.
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“Well, Chris, look, there’s been a lot of contesting of the election in multiple states,” the Louisiana congressman deflected. “The president has done it, other groups have done it too, and that’s because of the concerns people had when you look at the massive vote swings days and weeks after the election. Millions of people feel very frustrated with this process.”
The Fox News moderator pointed out that “vote swings” took place due to state laws that prevented mail-in ballots from being counted prior to Election Day, explaining how this resulted in the so-called “red mirage.” Wallace also noted that the president’s own attorney general has not found any instances of the widespread voter fraud that Trump has baselessly alleged occurred.
Wallace went on to bring up the dozens of election-stealing lawsuits Trump and his allies have lost before mentioning that Scalise signed on to the Texas effort, adding that the Supreme Court threw it out without even listening to it.
“This is this lawsuit that was going to throw out the votes in four swing states—Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” the anchor wondered aloud. “I mean, you were talking about disenfranchising the 10 million Biden voters who supported the President-Elect in those four states. Do you feel comfortable throwing out millions of votes of your fellow Americans?”
Scalise, meanwhile, attempted to say “nobody wants any votes thrown out,” prompting Wallace to interrupt: “That’s what the lawsuit would have done, sir!”
The Trump-boosting lawmaker countered that the Texas lawsuit merely argued that some states didn’t follow their election laws and that “state legislatures set the process for having electors,” leading Wallace to once again fire back.
“With all due respect, the Supreme Court—the Supreme Court—the Supreme Court threw that out,” he exclaimed. “They didn’t even hear it. They didn’t think it even merited a hearing.”
Circling back to whether Scalise could finally accept the fact that Trump decisively lost, Wallace asked the lawmaker if “you’re not willing to recognize [Biden] as the president-elect, and you’re not willing to stop contesting the election.”
“Joe Biden has been going through a transition that even President Trump supported while he is also following what the court allows. There are legal challenges allowed,” Scalise dodged, adding: “Let’s let this legal process play itself out.”
The president and his allies have had over 50 cases challenging the election results rejected by various state and federal courts. But their lies about the result have not had zero impact: Violence erupted in the streets of multiple cities Saturday, as Proud Boys and other far-right activists expressed fealty to lame-duck Trump.
