GOP Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday decried Republicans who continue to refute the results of last month’s presidential election and baselessly claim voter fraud.
“I understand at the beginning maybe some people had some concerns about some of the allegations, but now we are several steps down the road. They are out of runway,” Hogan told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview. “We just have to acknowledge: This is embarrassing us. It’s an affront to our democratic process and it’s diminishing the presidency.”
On Monday, electors from the Electoral College gathered in state capitols to cast their votes, with California’s votes delivering the needed 270 to President-elect Joe Biden, confirming his victory in the presidential election.
“Look, this election is over and I know that the president had every opportunity to provide some kind of evidence of widespread voter fraud. We haven’t seen any. All the court cases are done, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case because there wasn’t any factual evidence, and now the states all across America — the Electoral College has voted,” Hogan said.
Hogan is not the only prominent Republican to denounce President Trump’s refusal to concede. Michigan Rep. Paul Mitchell announced on Monday he would no longer be a part of the Republican Party, specifically citing the refusal by Trump and his allies to accept the outcome of the election.
Hogan added, “I signed the ascertainments of the vote here in our state and we are forwarding them to the president of the Senate, the vice president, who will have to read these before a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6.”
The New York Times reported on Sunday that a group of Trump allies in Congress is making one last to attempt to reverse the election by challenging the results in five battleground states where Biden won. The move is not expected to succeed as it would require that both the House and the Senate agree to disqualify the results, which would be nearly impossible with a Democratic majority in the lower chamber.