Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., doesn’t agree with Donald Trump’s statements that the U.S. election system is “rigged” against him, now that the Republican nominee is falling behind in once-competitive swing states.
In recent weeks, the businessman and former reality television star’s campaign for the White House has been hit by the release of a 2005 video that showed Trump bragging about how he could sexually assault women because he is famous, and reports from numerous women who say they were unwillingly groped or kissed by him in the past.
As a result, many Republican leaders (not including West Virginia’s congressional delegation) have either denounced Trump’s presidential bid altogether or silently distanced themselves from their party’s nominee.
Polls are showing support for Trump — a candidate who has disparaged women, mocked the disabled and opened his campaign by calling Mexicans rapists — dropping quickly in several states, including Arizona, which once were considered solidly Republican.
In the aftermath, Trump has said the “shackles have been taken off” his campaign. He has attacked members of his own party. He has spread conspiracy theories. At a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, he advocated for his mostly white supporters to watch “other communities” for voter fraud.
And in the past week, Trump has gone so far as to foment doubt in the U.S. election system — the basis of the country’s democratic process — by constantly complaining at rallies and over Twitter about “large scale voter fraud” and the election being “stolen” from him.
“Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day,” Trump tweeted Monday morning. “Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!”
While she continues to support Trump’s presidency because of government “over-regulation,” Capito said Monday that she disagrees with Trump’s remarks about the legitimacy of the country’s elections.
“I do not think the system is rigged,” Capito said. “There are a lot of volunteers, certainly in West Virginia, that are dedicated to seeing that we have fair, timely and well-accounted for elections. I have total confidence in our election results. I reject that theory.”
Trump’s comments, which many say irresponsibly erode confidence in democracy, comes at a heated time in American politics. This weekend, a North Carolina Republican campaign office was fire-bombed, and some Trump supporters in Ohio told The Boston Globe that they plan to stake out polling locations in order to “racially profile” eligible voters.
Capito said she doesn’t think Trump’s remarks will lead to any type of action by his most adamant supporters during the election or if Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton becomes the nation’s 45th president.
“I think most people would see this as chatter pre-election, quite frankly” she said.
Previously, Trump suggested that if Clinton were elected, there might be something that “Second Amendment people” could do to stop her from appointing liberal Supreme Court nominees, a remark that Trump later said was not meant to suggest that someone should assassinate his opponent.
Capito said people need to be able trust in the country’s democratic process and that she doesn’t believe there is proof for Trump’s allegations of wide-spread voter fraud — a fact that many studies have confirmed, even as Republican-led state legislatures have passed laws seeking to root out fraudulent voting.
“We always joke in West Virginia — I think every state does — about people from the graveyard voting or those types of things,” Capito said. “That is not something I worry about.”
“To be a gracious winner is good, but to be a gracious loser is even more difficult,” Capito said.
Capito, West Virginia’s highest elected Republican politician, said she remembers the 2000 presidential election well. She won her first term in the U.S. House of Representatives that year, and remembers waiting weeks to find out whether Vice President Al Gore or former Texas Gov. George W. Bush would be the next president.
That election, which ultimately was decided by a U.S. Supreme Court case, was the most tenuous election that Capito hopes she ever sees, and she commended Gore, the Democratic candidate, for accepting Bush’s presidency.
“I don’t know that I have ever seen, or will ever see, a greater hurdle in an election result than that,” she said. “We got over that hurdle as a nation. Some people were stung by it but, at the end of the day, Vice President Gore accepted those results and moved on. I would hope that would be the same thing that happens in every election.”
With the presidential election swinging in Clinton’s favor, Capito said she is focusing on making sure that Republicans hold onto their majorities in Congress.
“I am extremely concerned about keeping control of the United States Senate, with Mitch McConnell as the leader,” Capito said. “That is a big focus for me.”
Of late, Trump has caused Republican senate candidates in swing states like Pennsylvania and New Hampshire to flee from his campaign. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has stopped campaigning for Trump and has, instead, put his effort into getting now-vulnerable Republican congress members re-elected.
Kentucky’s McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has refused to talk about his party’s presidential nominee.
Rep. Evan Jenkins’ office said people need to trust the country’s election system and that he is more worried about hacking of voter information. Jenkins, a West Virginia Republican, did not mention Trump in his statement.
“Trust in our electoral system is a critical part of our democracy, and oversight should always play a role in our elections,” Jenkins said. “We must ensure our polling places, clerks and election systems are protected from cyber threats, as the FBI recently uncovered hacking attempts. As we near Election Day, all Americans should be able feel that their votes count.”
Ted Dacey, campaign manager for Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., responded to questions about Trump’s comments on the election system by complaining about bias in “the national media and Hollywood.” He referenced Clinton’s statements about Trump’s supporters being “deplorable.”
“[President Barack Obama] and Clinton are not held to the same standards as Republicans,” he said. “But Congressman Mooney has great faith in America and our system of elections.”
Republican Rep. David McKinley’s office did not respond to requests for a statement. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is out of the country.
Reach Andrew Brown at [email protected], 304-348-4814 or follow @andy_ed_brown on Twitter.
