Republican gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson on Monday said the 2020 election was “not fair” and said President Biden is “the wrong guy in the White House” as she repeatedly dodged questions during an interview on CNN about whether she would have certified the election results.
Taylor Robson is seen as the establishment GOP primary candidate in the governor’s race and has earned the endorsement of former Vice President Mike Pence against former broadcast news star Kari Lake, who is backed by President Trump and has made the 2020 election a cornerstone of her candidacy.
But during the interview with CNN “New Day” co-host Brianna Keilar, Taylor Robson refused to say the election had been determined fairly.
Taylor Robson dodged questions on if she would have certified the 2020 election if she were governor at the time, saying she couldn’t do that “without having been presented all the evidence.”
“There has been investigation after investigation, and are there things that need to be fixed? Absolutely,” she said, citing issues with voter ID and ballot harvesting. “But I’m looking forward, I’m looking at 2022 and doing everything I can to keep Arizona’s governor’s office in Republican hands.”
Keilar pressed the candidate again on whether she would certify the election, to which Robson repeated she has not seen the evidence.
“There are investigations that are ongoing,” Taylor Robson said.
“Do you accept the outcome of the election of 2020?” Keilar asked again.
“We have the wrong guy in the White House,” Taylor Robson answered. “I believe the wrong president is in the White House. … The 2020 election, at a minimum, was not fair, and that’s my consistent answer.”
Taylor Robson’s answers show just how much the 2020 election is a campaign issue in the race between she and Lake. They also suggest that despite Pence’s endorsement, Taylor Robson doesn’t want to be seen as saying the election was fair.
No evidence has been found to suggest widespread fraud resulted in Biden’s win nationally or in Arizona.
The false claims that the election was stolen from Trump led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, where members of a mob chanted “hang Mike Pence” because he would not overturn the results of the election — a power he did not have in the first place.
Pence’s endorsement of Taylor Robson was seen as the start of a proxy battle between Pence and Trump, who are now on opposite sides of the GOP after the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Over the weekend Pence and outgoing Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) campaigned for Taylor Robson as Trump rallied for Lake.
On Monday, Taylor Robson said 78 percent of Republicans in Arizona believe something was wrong with the 2020 election. She blamed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the media “suppressing news” about Hunter Biden and “big tech silencing conservative voices” for creating an unfair election and spreading discontent among Republicans.
Taylor Robson added she was concerned about “what President Biden and Democrats are going to do in upcoming elections.”
“I’m focused on what they’re doing in the future,” she said.