House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Tuesday he thinks former President Trump should avoid saying the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” during Thursday’s debate.
In an interview set to air Wednesday night on NewsNation’s “On Balance,” Leland Vitato asked Johnson how he would advise Trump to respond when asked “Who won the last election” during this Thursday’s first presidential debate.
“You know what President Trump’s answer is,” Johnson said in a promotional video for the interview released Wednesday. “He doesn’t think it’s fair. He thinks there have been record numbers of anomalies and possibly fraud. And, you know, some of that is objectively true.”
“But shouldn’t he say that?” Vittato asked, interrupting Johnson.
“No, you shouldn’t,” Johnson replied. “What he should be saying is, ‘Let’s talk about the future, not the past.'”
Presidents Trump and Biden are scheduled to take part in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle on Thursday, a historic event that will pit a sitting president against a former president at the earliest stage since televised debates began.
Trump has repeatedly made false claims that he won the 2020 election and that there was fraud, despite multiple recounts and investigations that have found no meaningful evidence of widespread fraud anywhere in the country.
Some Republican commentators have urged Trump not to repeat those false claims during the debate, saying voters want to hear his plans for the country’s future and criticism of Biden’s time in office. But Trump has not publicly acknowledged Biden as the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
of The interview will be broadcast The full story will air Wednesday at 7pm EDT on NewsNation, which is owned by the same parent company as The Hill.
