So Far, California House Republicans Are on Board With Trump's Baseless Claims

A growing list of Republicans have pushed back against President Trump’s evidence-free claims that a conspiracy of liberals, pollsters, election officials and Democrats have deprived him of his rightful reelection. While the race has yet to be called by the Associated Press and other news organizations, the president is currently behind in four of the five remaining states still in play. If even one of those leads holds up, Joe Biden will have accumulated enough electoral votes to win the presidency.

Trump has been signaling for months that he would not accept the results of the election — that is, unless he won. He has now pledged to go to court to subtract whatever votes are necessary to yield him a victory.

Among the skeptics in his own party, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the president’s comments “inflame without informing” and that “we heard nothing …  about any evidence.”

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted that the president needs to “STOP,” adding “this is getting insane.”

But here in California, the state’s GOP House contingent seems mostly on board with the president’s push to overturn an undesired outcome.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, representing parts of Los Angeles, Kern and Tulare counties, went on Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show to baldly state that “President Trump won this election,” repeating the president’s baseless claims and urging Republicans to fight.

“Everyone who is listening do not be quiet,” he said. “Do not be silent about this. We cannot allow this to happen before our very eyes.”

Friday afternoon an editor for the Cook Political Report tweeted that McCarthy had walked back his comments

Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican representing a rural district that includes Redding, tweeted that the “circumstances” surrounding the election “point to a fraudulent outcome,” without listing any specific incidents.

Twitter added a note to LaMalfa’s tweet, preventing users from sharing or even reading it before clicking through a disclaimer that said: “Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process.”

In an interview with a local radio station, Rep. Tom McClintock, a Republican representing El Dorado, Mariposa and other counties in the Sierra Nevada, said he was “very concerned about election integrity.”

He also attempted to cast doubt on the legitimacy of mail-in votes — “I remember the days when we all voted in person on election day,” he said.

Rep. Ken Calvert, a Republican from Southern California, tweeted that “Republican candidates, from the top of the ticket to the bottom, have and will exercise their right to ensure vote counts are complete, accurate and legal.”

Notably silent on the matter: Devin Nunes, a staunch Trump ally representing a district in the San Joaquin Valley. Nunes’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

The state GOP, as Capital Public Radio’s Scott Rodd notes, has been touting victories of Republican candidates in legislative races, but it has not weighed in on Trump’s comments or the presidential contest.

— Kevin Stark (@kevstark) and Jon Brooks (@jbrooksfoy)