New Hampshire Republican U.S. Senate candidate Gen. Don Bolduc in Thursday’s debate slammed Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) for refusing to admit she is a 2016 election denier.
“She hasn’t admitted she was a 2016 election denier, but she was,” Bolduc said about being willing to correct mistakes.
“The fundamental difference is, I account. She does not,” he continued. “I believe we have integrity issues in our election. She denies that and wants to federalize it and make it more problematic.”
Hassan did not deny Bolduc’s charge and changed the topic to the Republican’s so-called “extreme” policies.
In 2016, Hassan was a close ally of two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. They campaigned together in New Hampshire. Hillary was famously defeated by former President Donald Trump in a stunning upset.
New Hampshire Democratic Senate candidate, Gov. Maggie Hassan, left, stands with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, right, after speaking at a rally at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Monday, October 24, 2016. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
In September 2017, Clinton said she would not “rule out” questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 election. In October 2020, Clinton claimed that the 2016 presidential election was “not on the level,” saying, “We still don’t really know what happened.”
There are over 150 examples of Democrats denying the 2016 election, according to the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) research team.
Bolduc is virtually tied with Hassan in the polls, despite being outspent by $9 million, according to third quarter campaign totals. The Sen. Mitch McConnell-backed super PAC has pulled all its money out of the race, while it supports pro-impeachment Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in Alaska.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.