Dana Bash ran out of patience while pressing Republican Sen. Tim Scott about Donald Trump and his pals' recent hints that this election may already be subject to voter fraud.
The CNN host demanded to know whether Trump would honor the results of the election in the event of defeat, but the South Carolina senator neatly sidestepped the repeated questioning.
“One of Donald Trump‘s allies, Steve Bannon, who was released from prison this week, told the New York Times that Trump should simply declare victory on election night regardless of the results,” Bash said on “State of the Union” Sunday.
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Bash pointed out that Bannon had done the same in 2020 and it led to the Jan. 6 insurrection before asking Scott point blank: “Will you urge the former president not to prematurely declare victory again and allow the process to play out so the American people can trust the final legitimate outcome?”
The senator, however, dodged the question.
“We are looking forward to a very good day on Tuesday night without any question. I‘m excited to see the battleground states that we’ve just talked about are all leaning towards Trump. So the good news is, we will have a fair election and Donald Trump will be our next president,” Scott responded.
Bash pressed him again: “I appreciate your optimism, that‘s your job on the eve of the election, but what I’m asking about is what if he doesn’t win?”
“And the fact of the matter is that Trump is already spreading false claims about cheating in Pennsylvania,” she continued. “He has repeatedly predicted a massive victory even though polls show that the race is very close. He’s setting the stage for his supporters not to believe the results if he loses. Do you want him stop doing that?”
“I would never tell any candidate on the ballot to talk about what happens if they lose. Obviously, you’re going to lean into the victory, especially,” Scott began, before Bash interrupted to repeat herself.
“I appreciate that, senator, forgive me but spreading false rumors, saying false things about fraud – you think it’s okay to spread false rumors about fraud and undermine the integrity of the election regardless of what happens?" she said.
Instead of addressing Trump’s election fraud claims, Scott was quick to pass the buck onto the media.
“Dana, the liberal media has done a better job of spreading misinformation,” he began, leading Bash to seemingly lose her cool.
“Oh, come on senator!” she urged.
Bash added, “I can’t let go of the fact that you are saying it’s the media spreading claims. It is not true. It is Donald Trump saying things just about Pennsylvania, just one example, that local officials are saying is not true. We saw what happened on January 6th as a result of that and many other things. You were there at the Capitol. Are you saying, right now, you want to leave this conversation and say you are okay with his rhetoric?”
Scott again did not directly answer the question, instead cryptically speaking about seeing a “strong shift in the right direction among voters.
“You said you believe that the election will be free and fair. So does that mean that you are confident that if Donald Trump loses – I know you think he‘s going to win, but let’s just play this out – if he loses, that he will concede?" Bash asked again.
“I’m confident that he’s going to win without any question. And, yes, I do believe that we will have a fair election. We will honor the results and we will celebrate the 47th president being Donald Trump,” Scott firmly responded.
