CNN
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New Hampshire Senate candidate Dan Bolduc After months of false propaganda that the 2020 election was stolen from the former electoral field . A day later, he tried to see a face.
Regarding the 2020 race, Bolduc, a retired Army Brigadier General who faces Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan in November, said he has “done a lot of research on this” and will change his position after speaking to New Hampshire voters.
“I’ve come to a conclusion, and I want to be sure of this: the election was not stolen,” Bolduc said, adding that while he still believes there was fraud, “elections have consequences, and unfortunately, President Biden is the legitimate president of this country.”
The comments marked a U-turn last month, when he doubled down on his past false claims during a primary debate.
“I signed a letter with 120 generals and admirals saying Trump won the election. [it],” Bolduc said during a mid-August debate.
Hassan’s campaign described Bolduc’s new public stance as an unbelievable and cynical ploy.
“Dan Bolduc spent the entire campaign spreading the Big Lie, and he can’t hide from that record. He’s even said he supports changing the 2024 election results if they don’t go his way,” said Hassan campaign spokesman Kevin Donohoe. .”
Earlier on Thursday, Hassan’s campaign “Dan Bolduc is an election denialist,” tweeted Bolduc’s controversial comment.
Bolduc’s campaign did not immediately respond to CNN’s request.
Hasan’s seat a , trying to chip away at Democrats’ slim Senate majority this fall. New Hampshire is now broken- 7 points in 2020, and many in the GOP leadership believe Hassan could mount a capable challenger — leading him to back state Senate President Chuck Morse in the primary. Morse admitted to Bolduc early Wednesday morning.
Morse is endorsed by the state’s popularly GOP governor, Chris Sununu, who is a Senate Republican Against Hasan. Leading figures in the GOP establishment also supported Morse, worried that Bolt
uc’s rhetoric about the 2020 election, his calls to repeal the 17th Amendment’s direct election of senators, and his criticism of the FBI after it searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence will defeat him in the general election. Sununu called Bolduc a “conspiracy theorist type candidate” during the primary and warned Republicans would have a “very difficult time” flipping the seat if he was nominated.
At a news conference Wednesday, Hassan gave a preview of the upcoming campaign, calling Bolduc “the most serious candidate for U.S. Senate that New Hampshire has seen in decades” and zeroing in on his ties to Trump.
“It’s interesting that Donald Trump mentioned his support for Dan Bolduc this morning, and again, Dan Bolduc supports denial of the election for 2020 — helped spread those lies, that he supports or is willing to abolish the FBI, and that the 2024 election won’t go the way he thinks it will, and he’s going to work to overturn it. ” said Hasan.
Trump did not endorse in the New Hampshire GOP Senate primary. In a post on the former president’s Truth community site, Trump congratulated Bolduc on Wednesday for a “big win in New Hampshire.” Boldak’s campaign , writes, “Strong words from President Trump. Thank you sir!”
Bolduc has shown few signs in recent weeks of starting a pivot away from the false 2020 election claims that have been central to his candidacy. A Published on September 2, he repeatedly denied the claims when asked about them.
Ultimately, Bolduc tried to distance himself from the language after the interviewer made it clear that there was “no evidence that the 2020 election was stolen.”
“Did I say stolen? I didn’t say stolen. I said granite stators have issues and that’s what matters. I have to be clear about what I am saying,” he said.
However, Bolduc has been a long-time exposer of Trump’s lies. A Published in October 2021, he defended his decision Trump insisted that he was the 2020 winner and that his claims of a rigged election and fraud were true.
“I really believe it, I think it exists, I think it’s going to happen, and it’s been happening in this country for a long time. When you try to steal the presidency, a lot of people go, ‘Okay, wait a minute. What’s going on here?,'” Bolduc said at the time.
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