“How in the hell are people in New Hampshire going to trust anything he says?”
Don Bolduc continues to feel the heat for his failed attempt yesterday to erase his long record of spreading the Big Lie. Bolduc’s flimsy efforts to reverse his election denialism were deemed “disingenuous” and a demonstration of a “lack of character” that puts “his credibility on the line.” See the highlights below…
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Jake Tapper, Anchor: “We’ve seen a slew of people lying about the 2020 election nominated in Republican primaries this year…And now one of these nominees — New Hampshire Senate nominee Don Bolduc who won his primary Tuesday in New Hampshire. He’s changing his tune completely about what he said happened in 2020.”
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Gloria Berger, Chief Political Analyst: “This isn’t a pivot though. We talk about pivots in campaigns — this is a reversal. A complete and total reversal for what particular reason? The primary is over.”
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Ashley Allison, Former National Coalitions Director for Biden-Harris: “It’s disingenuous and it’s troubling to think that these people will possibly be in office and passing laws. If they are disingenuous as candidates, they will be disingenuous as politicians. That’s why people are so frustrated with politics in Washington, D.C. and I hope the voters see through it.”
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Doug Jones, former Former U.S. Senator: “It’s a complete lack of character. Period. Complete lack of character. It is saying one thing to get a vote, saying another to try to pull in some other folks…We need to make sure people like that are not elected to the United States Senate. How in the hell are people in New Hampshire going to trust anything he says?”
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Laura Coates, Anchor: “I want to play for the audience — remember the Republican Don Bolduc, he just won the GOP primary in New Hampshire. Keep in mind, these two clips I’m going to show you are less than 30 days apart.”
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April Ryan, Political Analyst: “For him to go totally against what he said just 30 days ago, I mean, there’s Instagram, there’s Facebook, there’s the Twitter to show you what he said…receipts…At the end of the day, either way, one of those comments will hurt him.”
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Doug Heye, Former RNC Communications Director: “It wasn’t based on him doing a lot of research. He didn’t go to the library and pull out an encyclopedia.”
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Coates: “It’s all B.S.”
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Jones: “It is solely now about trust.”
Inside Politics with John King
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John King, Anchor: “Uh, ‘Dammit, I stand by it’ a month ago, before the primary when you need those votes from election deniers. Today…nevermind.”
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Julie Hirschfield Davis, NYT Congressional Editor: “Voters are going to know that this is the one, this is the Republican in the race who has said that Joe Biden is not the legitimate president and that the election was stolen…That’s going to be a factor in this already competitive race.”
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King: “I try to stay on top of these things, Mr. Bolduc says he’s done a lot of research on this. Has a lot changed on the question of who won the election between August 14 and September 14?”
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Jackie Kucinich, The Daily Beast Washington Bureau Chief: “Not that I’m aware of, but I imagine his polling showed something a bit different when it comes to, as you said, pivoting to the general.”
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John Berman, Anchor: “An abrupt about-face by New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc who won the Republican nomination on Tuesday. The retired Army general campaigned on claims that the 2020 election was stolen, but he seems to have changed his mind…I guess we don’t do subtlety anymore.”
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Errol Louis, Political Commentator: “This is extraordinary, this is somebody who put his credibility on the line. For 120 generals to sign a letter saying that they think that something’s seriously wrong with the presidential election is really pretty heavy stuff. For him to think that he could just walk away from it now, the voters of New Hampshire obviously will decide, but what a moment in American politics for something like this to happen.”
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Tara Palmeri, Puck Senior Political Correspondent: “This was the core of his campaign during the primary season, but what he’s realized now is that in the general election this really turns off swing voters, Independents, even Republicans who are just done with Trump and have this very visceral feeling about election denialism…They know that election denying is translated with violence and unrest.”
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Palmeri: “What you’re seeing is extreme candidates winning primaries and not being able to translate into general election audiences.”