Former Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., and Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, appearing on Newsmax TV, warned of the challenges facing President Donald Trump in the battle over the election.
Both men were involved with the 2000 Florida recount in the George W. Bush-Al Gore contest. They made their comments on Wednesday during an interview on Newsmax TV’s “Spicer & Co.”
Host Sean Spicer asked “What should the Trump campaign be doing now? There’s the legal piece and the [public relations] piece. Talk to me about both things they should be doing to win the PR battle and the legal battle.”
LeMieux, who served as a Bush campaign recount adviser in Florida replied: “In terms of the PR battle, you don’t want the vice president [Joe Biden] claiming victory. You don’t want the media calling the election in particular states. That puts the onus against you when you’re trying to challenge. You want to keep this thing going as long as possible before someone calls it so you can get your lawyers, your poll watchers in there to watch the counting of the votes to see if there are any irregularities.
“There are really two things to watch here for: One is integrity of the voting process. Were people voting correctly? Are those votes being counted correctly? And also the transmittal of those voting machines.”
Griffin warned of the logistical problems in challenging the results in multiple states.
“It’s logistically very difficult,” he said. “In the early part of 2000 there were some other states of concern, but those were quickly disposed of and the focus moved to Florida. You have to have the best legal minds in the business engaged.”
And LeMieux added: “This is the presidency of the United States on the line.”
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Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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