Hewitt pushes back on Ohio GOP Senate candidate’s election fraud claims

Conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt pushed back on Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel’s (R) claims of election fraud during an interview Friday.

Mandel claimed on the “The Hugh Hewitt Show” that former President Trump won the 2020 election and voter fraud caused President Biden to win. 

Mandel told Hewitt he believes there was fraud in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia and that more audits and investigations need to be done on the matter.

Hewitt was quick to press Mandel over the claims.

“But Josh, let me, let me, now I am going to push back, because you’re a friend, and you’ve been on this show for many, many years. If you set up a precedent of enough people complain about election, we will have an audit wherever people complain in the absence of evidence between the election and the certification,” Hewitt said. 

“Every election in every state for every office will be called into question, and no one will ever believe, it’s a profoundly delegitimizing and destabilizing proposition you’re putting forward. Are you aware of how destabilizing and delegitimizing it is?” he added.

Mandel said he isn’t calling for everywhere to be investigated but rather in states where Biden won where he claims there was “nefarious activity.”

Mandel particularly focused on claims of voter fraud in Arizona, which did an audit of the election and found no evidence of election fraud. 

The Associated Press earlier this week released a months-long analysis of the 2020 election results that found fewer than 475 cases of voter fraud in six battleground states, including Arizona. 

“The cases could not throw the outcome into question even if all the potentially fraudulent votes were for Biden, which they were not, and even if those ballots were actually counted, which in most cases they were not,” according to the news agency. 

Biden received more than 7 million more votes than Trump in the 2020 election, but neither that, nor the fact that Trump and his allies have lost numerous court challenges to the results, has prevented the former president from refusing to concede the race. 

Hewitt compared Mandel’s claims to some Democrats back in 2000 who said the election of President George W. Bush wasn’t legitimate. 

“Did you, did you think when Democrats said Bush was selected, not elected, that it was legit? I didn’t. I thought it was profoundly disruptive of American democracy,” he said. 

Mandel claimed it was not the same since a full investigation was done of the 2000 election, saying he’s heard too many stories to believe the 2020 election wasn’t rigged.

“I do not believe he won. I think Trump won,” Mandel said. 

Mandel, Ohio’s state treasurer, is competing in a crowded primary field to fill the Senate seat that will be left vacant by retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R). Other candidates vying for the Republican nomination include author J.D. Vance and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken.