Kent continues to circulate false election fraud theory
On Tucker Carlson Tonight, 3rd Congressional District candidate Joe Kent, R-Yacolt, continued to perpetuate the erroneous conspiracy theory that spurred the violent Jan. 6 Capitol rampage.
Kent claimed the 2020 presidential election results were fraudulent while on the Fox News program Thursday. Despite comprehensive analyses proving otherwise, Kent continued to back former president Donald Trump’s assertion that the election was stolen, which was made in an effort to maintain his position in office.
“If our ruling class won’t go back and actually adjudicate what happened with our elections, our system is going to continue to decay,” Kent said, referring to the 2020 presidential election.
As a refresher, President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election with 306 electoral votes, toppling Trump’s 232 electoral votes, according to Politico.
The Fox News segment took place after the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capital initiated its series of hearings regarding the riot.
Both Carson and Kent, who is endorsed by Trump, denounced the Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment and supported the formation of the investigative committee, including incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler. They referred to the hearing process as a failure of democracy, with Kent calling it a “sham trial soviet kangaroo court we’re seeing.”
The congressional candidate’s diatribe continued as he criticized Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Herrera Beutler for their stance on the Jan. 6 riot – calling it illegitimate. Then Kent immediately plugged his own campaign, where he vows to hold Republican leadership accountable if he’s elected to office.
“Everything (Cheney and Herrera Beutler) stand for; we have to cast that off if we are going to preserve this republic,” Kent said.
Lauren Ellenbecker
Lauren Ellenbecker is a politics reporter for The Columbian.