Trump’s Endorsed Candidates Are Refusing to Concede

I just read an interesting story on Axios, which talked about a growing number of Republican candidates who are refusing to concede elections they clearly lost, helping to promote even more conspiracy theories about the results.

According to Axios, the trend stretches across all the states at the very heart of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

A few examples listed in the article include Michigan, where Ryan Kelley, a gubernatorial candidate who was arrested by the FBI in June in connection with the Capitol riot, is refusing to concede and called his fourth-place finish in the GOP primary a “predetermined outcome.”

Over in Arizona, Trump-endorsed Mark Finchem — who won the state’s GOP nomination for secretary of state – said at an election party that “I’ve got people all over the state saying, ‘I’ve gotten ballots that I didn’t ask for,'” according to reports.

In Colorado, indicted county clerk Tina Peters paid more than $250,000 last week for a recount of the Republican primary for secretary of state. She lost by 14 points a month earlier but claimed there was cheating.

In Nevada, gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert also refused to concede and paid for a recount in June after losing by 11 points to Trump-endorsed Joe Lombardo.

In Georgia, Kandiss Taylor, a gubernatorial candidate who won just barely 3% of the vote in the May contest, claimed the election was “rigged.” MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a prominent Trump ally, promised a “big investigation” on her behalf.

In Florida, Jason Mariner, the Republican nominee in a January House special election, filed a lawsuit alleging problems with ballots after losing by nearly 60 points.

In Pennsylvania, Trump himself cast doubts on the results of the GOP primary for U.S. Senate in May as ballots were still being counted. He urged his endorsed candidate Mehmet Oz — who ultimately won by fewer than 1,000 votes — to declare victory prematurely, because it “makes it much harder for them to cheat.”

The article ended with a reminder that republicans are currently laying the groundwork to challenge future election results from positions of power.

Slates of Trump-backed candidates for governor and secretary of state in swing states including Arizona and Pennsylvania, if elected, would be in position to respond to future calls to overturn elections.

This is all leading in a VERY bad direction for the country. It’s just my opinion, but I am convinced that all of these ultra-MAGA candidates running for office are going to play a big role in helping Trump return to power.

We’ll have to see how this plays out, but sometimes when the handwriting is on the wall, we should read it.

I’ll be back in a couple of days with a longer video. Thanks for taking a moment to watch and I’ll talk to you guys soon. ♦