Sean Hannity Suggests There Could Be A ‘Do-Over’ Election In Pennsylvania Over Unfounded Fraud Claims
Sean Hannity has come under fire for suggesting that the state of Pennsylvania may need to hold a “do-over” election over unfounded allegations that the voting was fraudulent, with the Fox News host backing up controversial claims from President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, Hannity discussed the ongoing vote counting showing the Republican on track to fall behind in a series of key battlegrounds, including Pennsylvania. The television host picked up on allegations of fraud that the president had made in statements since Election Day, with Hannity questioning whether the entire race should be invalidated and restarted in the state.
“Does that invalidate the process, considering they’re violating the law?” he said, via Raw Story. “And what is the remedy? The only remedy I would see, at that point, is, they did it, and the violated the law, nobody can testify to the legitimacy of what their counting was — a do-over in that state? By the way, something that has never been done in a presidential election.”
Here's Hannity arguing that Pennsylvania should do a "do over" election pic.twitter.com/eZcaD3svee
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 6, 2020
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, appearing on the show alongside Hannity, replied that the bar is high for a race to be re-run, something that officials try to avoid at all costs.
As Newsweek noted, Hannity was referring to a court ruling on Thursday that reversed a lower court’s decision to deny a Trump campaign motion to allow election watchers in Philadelphia to observe vote counters from 6 feet away. As the report noted, an attorney for the Republican’s campaign argued that the board of elections was only allowing the observers to be in the same room, saying that was too narrow an interpretation and asking for them to be closer.
“Mandating a distance that prevents a candidate or his watchers to be truly present actually shrouds the election process in a veil, denying transparency and accountability,” lawyer Linda Kerns argued.
The defense of the president came amid reports of tension between him and the cable network. As The Inquisitr noted, Trump reportedly lashed out at Fox News during its coverage of the election and its decision to call Arizona for his opponent, Joe Biden. This call narrowed the potential paths to victory for Trump, putting more pressure to win remaining contests. The report from Vanity Fair claimed that he called owner Rupert Murdoch to scream at him. The network has stood by its decision to call Arizona, even as the continued vote count has showed a tightening race and other outlets have refrained from calling the outcome.
