Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who recently emerged victorious from a challenging primary race in Ohio, has declined to comment on whether he believes the 2020 presidential election was illegitimately taken from former President Donald Trump. Moreno, who has received Trump’s endorsement, deflected the question during a conversation with CNN last week.
“Oh my gosh, are we talking about that? We’ve had like three elections since then,” Moreno said as he left a meeting of the Republican conference in the Capitol. “The reality is, we’re gonna look to the future. The people in Ohio, what they care about is when they go to McDonald’s, they can’t afford French fries.”
When pressed for a direct answer, Moreno avoided the question and entered the office of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, stating, “This is not the topic I think people think about.”
In a digital ad released by Moreno’s campaign in January, the candidate had looked directly into the camera and stated, “President Trump says the election was stolen, and he’s right.”
The primary race saw Moreno competing against more traditional Republican candidates, including Matt Dolan. When asked if he had sufficient backing from establishment Republicans to win the race, Moreno expressed optimism about his chances and took a jab at Democrats.
“Oh, yeah. Because we’re gonna bring the entirety of the party together. That’s what we do. You know, it’s like. it’s good to be a Republican, you get to have a spirited debate as to who your candidate should be,” he said. “Democrats, they sit in a wine cellar in Martha’s Vineyard to pick their candidate.”
In his meeting with Senate Republicans, Moreno discussed his “overwhelming victory,” expressing his hope to be a positive influence and help regain the majority for his party.
Contributions to this report were made by CNN’s Manu Raju.