Arizona AG: Just Because Trump Didn't Win 'Doesn’t Mean It’s Fraud'

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, dismissed claims of mass voter fraud in Arizona and said during a recent nationally televised interview that Democratic President-elect Joe Biden will likely win the state.

The statements, which were given during a November 11 interview with Fox Business's Neil Cavuto, come as President Donald Trump, Congressional Republicans, and Republican elected officials and party leaders in Arizona refuse to accept Biden as the winner of the 2020 general election. Many Republicans nationwide have baselessly alleged mass voter fraud, despite election officials almost universally reporting no issues or fraud. The Trump campaign has filed flimsy lawsuits in a slew of states.

And while Arizona has so far only been called for Biden by Fox News and the Associated Press, election observers argue that Biden is on track to hold onto his lead in Arizona and win the state despite Trump narrowing the margin after Election Day.

"The reality is, right now, there’s less than 50,000 votes to count and the President would have to get about 65 percent of them to win Arizona, so it does appear that Joe Biden will win Arizona," Brnovich said.

He also noted that the lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign against state and Maricopa County election officials alleging that poll workers didn't follow protocols to allow voters to correct mistakes on their ballots would affect less than 200 ballots in the county. A judge recently rejected a request from the Trump campaign's lawyers to keep evidence in the case secret.

"Even if it was possible that those votes flip, those 200 votes, I cannot think it will make a difference in Arizona just because of the numbers," Brnovich said. "There is no evidence, there [are] no facts that will lead anyone to believe that the election results will change."

Brnovich also pushed back on unfounded conspiracy theories being pushed by Republicans that the election was "stolen," pointing out that Republicans did well in a number of high-profile local races. Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel, a Republican, fended off her Democratic challenger, the State Legislature seems on track to remain under the control of Republican majorities, and Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, currently trails his Republican challenger Stephen Richer by around 3,200 votes.

"In Arizona, there was a prediction that the Legislature would flip; it didn’t. There was some congressional districts that supposedly leaned Democratic; they didn’t flip. The county recorder here — oversees elections — went from Democrat to Republican. The county attorney remained Republican," Brnovich said. "If indeed there was some great conspiracy, it apparently didn’t work since the county election official who is a Democrat lost and other Republicans won."

"What really happened and came down to was people split their ticket. People voted for Republicans down-ballot but they didn’t vote for President Trump or Martha McSally. That’s the reality," he added. "Just because that happened doesn’t mean it’s fraud."

Brnovich also hinted that Republicans need to respect the "rule of law," implying that they need to respect the election results.

"There was a time, not that long ago, we as Republicans talked about [how] we need to make sure the rule of law means something," he said. "To me, the rule of law is about having consistency and certainty in the application of law. We know what the rules are and those rules stay the same and they apply to everyone."