Frank LaRose’s Jaw Must Be Tired from Talking out of Both Sides of His Mouth
August 4, 2022
Columbus, OH — Recently, Frank LaRose spoke on “The Optimal Life Podcast with Nate Haber” where he once again embraced election lies to try to appease the MAGA Republican crowd while also trying to tout the safety and security of Ohio’s elections. LaRose is once again trying to have it both ways, because he knows he’s wildly unpopular among his own party and apparently wants to lose a Senate race in two years. LaRose is debasing himself and the office he holds by embracing election lies, further destroying any image he once tried to maintain of being an honest broker.
Portions of LaRose’s interview can be found below, with emphasis added:
- Host: I want to get your take because that was the big thing back in 2020. President Trump versus Joe Biden, President Biden now, and a lot of people believe that that election was not- there wasn’t much integrity in that election. Do you hold that same position?
- LaRose: I tell you that we ran an honest contest here in Ohio, the people of Ohio voted and had their voice heard. Here’s what I’ll say. There were things that happened in other states that shouldn’t have happened. Most of it, by the way, happened in the context of what I would call “crisis opportunism.” And people said, “Well, there’s a pandemic and so we’ve got to make this change or that.” In reality, what- what occurred in a lot of these states were, you know, activist lawsuits that resulted in last minute changes or just administrative changes made by election officials, even in some cases, secretaries of state that they should not have made. We held the line on that kind of stuff here in Ohio. We didn’t allow activist groups to make election laws at the courthouse because we know that election law should only be made at the statehouse. And that really is the biggest difference between Ohio and other places.
- Host: Was there election fraud in 2020? Could there have been?
- LaRose: Yeah, so the honest answer is that there is never been a perfect election right? In every election, there are some examples of election fraud. In Ohio, we are very aggressive about catching that and prosecuting it.… But what did occur again in 2020 that should not have occurred is elections officials in some states, changed the rules at the last minute. I’ll give you an example. In some states, they just arbitrarily extended how many days they’re going to allow for absentee ballots to come in and still be counted even though their law didn’t allow for that. They said “Well, there’s a pandemic so we need to create this special thing,” or they cut a deal in a courtroom with some activist group and-and allowed a judge’s order to result in the election changes. So is that election fraud? Not in the traditional sense of the word but it is- it is something that should not have happened and shouldn’t happen again, going forward.
- Host: Give us your elevator pitch to whoever’s listening about why you’re the man for the office again.
- LaRose: Yeah, so very briefly, it comes down to running honest contests for the people of Ohio. It’s not about this inflated rhetoric about widespread fraud or widespread suppression. Ohioans deserve better than that.
LaRose can’t have it both ways: He can’t question election integrity on one hand and try to denounce ‘inflated rhetoric’ on the other. LaRose knows better than this, but he’s too phony to say what he knows to be true: The 2020 election was legitimate and Joe Biden won the election fair and square.
“Frank LaRose’s clumsy dance of talking out of both sides of his mouth is a dereliction of duty as Ohio’s secretary of state – the top elections official in Ohio. LaRose is saying things he knows aren’t true in an irresponsible effort to get more MAGA Republicans to like him so he can run for Senate in two years. Not only will it not work, it once again demonstrates how LaRose will do or say anything to advance his own interests,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.
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