Witness Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall — and this exchange he had with “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd on Sunday:
Todd: Do you believe you were elected fair and square in 2020?
Marshall: You know, absolutely I do. I think Kansas has some of the tightest election laws in the land. We went back and looked at that to make sure that it was a safe and fair election. So proud of our secretary of state, so proud of our county clerks and those people that volunteer, checking the IDs to make sure that every person got one vote. Just really proud of how Kansas could do it. Other states can look and see how Kansas does it.
Todd: And do you believe that Joe Biden was elected fair and square?
Marshall: You know, Joe Biden was sworn into office. I called him Mr. President since the day he was —
Todd: You didn’t answer the question.
Marshall: — sworn in. I still remain concerned about election — I still remain concerned about election integrity. I think that we need to go back and look at what — did the states obey their own laws? Did they obey their own constitution?
OK, so let’s get this straight: Marshall is certain he won because “we went back and looked at that to make sure that it was a safe and fair election” but he can’t (or won’t) say that Biden won “fair and square” because he “we need to go back and look at what — did the states obey their own laws.”
Just as a test case of Marshall’s, um, theory, let’s look at Georgia — the single state where former President Donald Trump and his allies have spent the most time disputing the results that Biden won.
In Georgia, the vote was recounted not once, not twice, but THREE times. One of those recounts was done BY HAND. The state certified its votes and then RE-certified its vote.
“Today is an important day for election integrity in Georgia and across the country,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after the re-certification. “Georgians can now move forward knowing that their votes, and only their legal votes, were counted accurately, fairly and reliably.”
Now, compare that to Kansas where there was no recount — and the election was certified (just once!) on November 30.
Why then is the Kansas result — including Marshall’s victory over Democrat Barbara Bollier somehow more legit than Biden’s win over Trump in Georgia? Simple! Because Marshall won the first race and Marshall’s preferred candidate lost the second one.
That’s really the only difference since it’s beyond dispute that a state that recounted its vote THREE times — including a hand recount — is closer to the exact margins than a state that, well, didn’t.
Don’t try to think too hard about any of this. Because, if you do, you’ll give yourself a headache. The reality is this: Those, like Marshall, who argue that they won their elections fair and square while raising questions about Biden’s victory on that same day are simply not talking sense. They are driven by partisanship and blind loyalty to Trump. It doesn’t make any sense because making sense is beside the point. And their point is that Donald Trump is right and literally everyone else is wrong.
