In a wide-ranging interview, Republican Raffensperger called the U.S. Capitol’s earlier-day uprising “horrific.” The chaos, he said, was the result of two months of unrest representing the facts of the November primary election – including Biden ‘s influence in Georgia – and spreading dissent on social media.
“I’ve said from Day One that we have to (be) aware of our language, we can’t spin people up and play people and bring them into an emotional wilderness,” he said. .
“It’s one thing to get peaceful, you know, immoral, you know, show, or march to make your point. But that, well, went far beyond it,” he said. Raffensperger.
National leaders from both parties should condemn the violence, he said.
“Just imagine what our founders would say if they looked at that, you know, what they were fighting for. It wasn’t until we could stifle each other. He wanted us to come. together and peaceful talks, respect for the halls of Congress, and that ‘s where we worked out our differences, “Raffensperger said.
Georgia’s elections were fair, the chief executive says
Raffensperger confirmed that the Georgia elections were fair. “The facts are on our side,” he said. “We had fair, honest elections in Georgia.”
Just because you don’t like the election result, that doesn’t mean you go down the road of violence, he said.
“We work on our differences outdoors in the halls of our general assemblies, in the halls of Congress, but not out on the street bullying, shooting, hitting people. It’s hoodlumism, “he said.
“It’s a shame I had to come to that. It’s a shame that a lot of people didn’t have the courage to stand up to political leaders, elected political leaders in the Republican Party and say, Mr President here what the real numbers are, and I believe the real numbers, “he said.
Trump hurt the Republican Party during the Senate run in Georgia, he said, dismissing GOP candidates with lies about the main race when they should have focused on their own campaigns.
A nation needs to start healing, Raffensperger says
Meanwhile, January 22 is the deadline for the Georgia Senate election confirmation, though Raffensperger expects to confirm the results as soon as possible, he said.
“My heart may be broken as a Republican,” he said, “but we have work to do.”
Devon M. Sayers of CNN contributed to this report.