McAuliffe on 2000 election: ‘I wish the United States Supreme Court had let them finish counting the votes’

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe said on Sunday that he wished the Supreme Court would have “let them finish counting the votes” when asked about his past comments regarding claims of fraud in the 2000 presidential election. 

“Do you think Republicans stole that election?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked McAuliffe on “State of the Union.” 

“In 2000? I wish the United States Supreme Court had let them finish counting the votes,” McAuliffe replied.

On #CNNSOTU, @DanaBashCNN presses Virginia gubernatorial candidate @TerryMcAuliffe on his past comments claiming Republicans “stole” the 2000 presidential election.https://t.co/jjbhODSRgf

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 10, 2021

McAuliffe then quickly moved away from discussing the 2000 election to a broader criticism of his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin.

“Glenn Youngkin has run the entire campaign on election integrity,” McAuliffe said. “He says it is the single most important issue facing Virginians. No, I think health care, I think dealing with COVID, I think education is.” 

On #CNNSOTU, @DanaBashCNN presses Virginia gubernatorial candidate @TerryMcAuliffe on his past comments claiming Republicans “stole” the 2000 presidential election.https://t.co/jjbhODSRgf

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 10, 2021

In 2001, McAuliffe said that if “Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush, Jim Baker and the Supreme Court hadn’t tampered with the results, Al Gore would be president.” 

“Folks, you know it. I know it. They know it. We won that election,” he added at the time.

McAuliffe on Sunday also acknowledged the differences between the 2000 election and 2020 election. 

“The United States Supreme Court shut down the voting, overruled the Florida Supreme Court and stopped the counting of votes,” the gubernatorial candidate said. “That is quite a difference from what you had in the Trump election.”

“There’s no comparison,” McAuliffe added.

Youngkin has previously criticized McAuliffe for his claims about the 2000 election.

Last week, Youngkin tweeted that it “would be an appropriate time for Terry McAuliffe to apologize for repeatedly claiming the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections were stolen.”

Today — or any day, really — would be an appropriate time for Terry McAuliffe to apologize for repeatedly claiming the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections were stolen. #VAgov

— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 7, 2021