Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) is in danger of losing her position as House Republican Conference Chair once again after refuting former President Donald Trump's lie that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him by Democrats through widespread election fraud.
Cheney faced similar backlash in January when she attributed the siege of the United States Capitol to Trump's election lies and voted to impeach him for inciting the insurrection.
These election conspiracy theories have been embraced by most Republican lawmakers despite their absurdity and the underlying message that the outcomes of United States elections can no longer be trusted if Republicans don't like the results.
With Cheney's downfall growing more and more imminent, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is the favorite to replace her as conference chair.
Stefanik saw a massive popularity boost among Republicans as one of Trump's most vocal defenders during his first impeachment, and the former President endorsed her to replace Cheney earlier this week.
With the spotlight on Stefanik, her willingness to support fantasies of election fraud is under heavy scrutiny, and one absurd claim is now resurfacing.
(Literally) incredible: Elise Stefanik, in defending Trump’s fraud claims, said there were 140k illegal votes in F… https://t.co/WBNbAzvANb— Aaron Blake (@Aaron Blake) 1620265850.0
The state of Georgia, which went blue in a presidential election last year for the first time since 1992, was a major target of the Republican party's voter fraud lies. Stefanik falsely claimed in a January statement that one out of every four ballots in Fulton County, Georgia was illegitimate.
With the claim resurfacing, CNN fact checker Daniel Dale asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to comment on Stefanik's claim.
Spokesman for Georgia SecState Brad Raffensperger when I asked today about this January claim from Stefanik: “The s… https://t.co/eVOXvIthOV— Daniel Dale (@Daniel Dale) 1620267945.0
A spokesman for Raffensperger called the statement "ludicrous" and noted that there were no underage voters in Georgia and, statewide, there were only two votes found to be from dead voters.
Raffensperger knows the toll of Trump's election lies more than most. After both Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Trump himself pressured Raffensperger to "find" or throw out the votes necessary for Trump to win, the former President routinely berated Raffensperger on Twitter and prompted death threats against him.
People largely agreed with the assessment of the Secretary's office regarding Stefanik's claims.
Waiting for a retraction from dishonest traitor @EliseStefanik. https://t.co/HWlwCNGQRQ— Richard Signorelli (@Richard Signorelli) 1620302283.0
@EliseStefanik lies for power. Simple as that. https://t.co/2GM6nkkP3R— Andrew Rudick (@Andrew Rudick) 1620274053.0
Wow! No wonder @GOPLeader wants to elevate @EliseStefanik she has absolutely no problem lying and spreading… https://t.co/KMp3ff10JK— RNOwnedbyCats #Vaccinated&Masked (@RNOwnedbyCats #Vaccinated&Masked) 1620273727.0
But many said the blatant lies in Stefanik's January statement are a feature—not a bug—of the current Republican party; one that intersects perfectly with Stefanik's own ambition.
I'll keep repeating: Stefanik has decided that she likes life in DC, and she'll say stuff like this and worse if th… https://t.co/Ef8d8PD9Ce— Tom Nichols (@Tom Nichols) 1620266442.0
The amount of willing, knowing lying from people who know better is just chilling. So dangerous for our republic wh… https://t.co/fsMktBnIwU— Chris Murphy (@Chris Murphy) 1620268039.0
Remarkable. The women likely to replace Cheney spread scurrilous lies about the election just hours before the insu… https://t.co/pRy63dGgzU— Josh Marshall (@Josh Marshall) 1620267509.0
Meet the likely next member of House GOP leadership, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). The party line is that Liz Cheney… https://t.co/gV7sBQjBOR— Truth in Politicking (@Truth in Politicking) 1620306663.0
forget the laughable quality of claims from this tribe of morons. ask this: if they had the power to overturn the r… https://t.co/OYMDwoAiPJ— jay m (@jay m) 1620308198.0
This is why she'll get the job https://t.co/OJdTyXMcIM— Matt (@Matt) 1620266217.0
Stefanik has yet to retract the claim, nor is she expected to any time soon.