President Donald Trump on Thursday made clear that looking very hard is the only way to see the kind of outsized election fraud that his campaign has apparently found (it hasn’t).
Decrying the “most fraudulent election anyone’s ever seen,” President Trump told reporters that the reason Attorney General Bill Barr hasn’t found evidence of the widespread election fraud the President has been raging about is because officials at the Justice Department “haven’t looked very hard.”
“He hasn’t done anything,” Trump said of Barr, his traditionally devoted legal henchman. “They haven’t looked very hard, which is a disappointment, to be honest with you. It’s massive fraud,” he added.
Pres. Trump told reporters on Thursday that the reason AG Bill Barr hasn't found evidence of widespread fraud that would overturn the election was because he hasn't "looked very hard." He said in a "number of weeks" he could determine whether he still has confidence in Barr. pic.twitter.com/9AMSkytBst
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 3, 2020
The comments come as Barr told the Associated Press in an interview on Tuesday that the Department of Justice had “not seen fraud on a scale” that would change the outcome of the presidential election.
When asked if the President still had confidence in his typically faithful ally, Trump told reporters to consult with him again on the matter “a number of weeks from now.”
The comments follow the White House dodging a similar question on Wednesday when press secretary Kayleigh McEnany avoided weighing in on whether Trump still has confidence in the top DOJ official.
“The President, if he has any personnel announcement, you will be the first to know it,” McEnany told reporters at the time.
A Justice Department spokesperson on Wednesday swatted away suggestions that the department had “concluded its investigation,” as reports surfaced that Trump was livid at Barr’s reported comments and was considering firing him.
“The Department will continue to receive and vigorously pursue all specific and credible allegations of fraud as expeditiously as possible,” the spokesperson said.
President Trump has made a number of moves in his dwindling days at the White House to oust government officials who have rebutted his claims of voter fraud — including Chris Krebs, a federal cybersecurity official who asserted that the Nov. 3 election where President Trump was defeated by President-elect Joe Biden was secure and free from widespread fraud.
The President has extended his election wrath toward Republican officials in Georgia — a historically red state that he lost to Biden last month. Trump trashed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, saying he was “ashamed” he had formerly endorsed the GOP leader and doubled down on attacks that included Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), among others, even after state elections officials called on the President to condemn the death threats that have been leveled at them amid his baseless claims.
