Cabinet Refuses to Acknowledge 2020 Election Loss
🟠 Erosion of Democratic Norms ·
Jan 20, 2025
Summary
Multiple nominees to Trump’s second-term cabinet refused under oath, during Senate confirmation hearings, to state that he had lost the 2020 election. Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi, pressed by Senator Dick Durbin and again by Senator Mazie Hirono on whether Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020, would say only that Biden ‘is the president of the United States’ and had been duly sworn in. FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, who had publicly promoted the claim that the 2020 election was stolen, likewise declined when asked directly, answering only that Biden’s election had been certified and that he had served as president. Both were confirmed along largely party-line votes. The refusals contrasted with the posture of several of Trump’s own first-term senior officials, including former Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the certification of Biden’s 2020 victory, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, who later described Trump as ‘fascist to the core.‘
Key Figures
Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, Joe Biden
Institutions Involved
Sources
- Attorney General Nominee Pam Bondi Testifies at Confirmation Hearing - Part 1
- Trump’s top general calls former president fascist and dangerous threat