In an op-ed cited by Reuters this Thursday, Sen. Dan Laughlin (R-PA) rebuked Donald Trump and his allies’ claims about the 2020 election, saying the GOP-backed audit of the 2020 election results in his state is being conducted “absent credible evidence of fraud” and will not change the outcome.
“The current attempt to discredit the 2020 election results runs headlong into an unmistakable truth,” Laughlin wrote. “Donald Trump lost Pennsylvania because Donald Trump received fewer votes.”
Laughlin’s comments pit him against Republican state Senator Doug Mastriano, who’s been pushing for a comprehensive “forensic” investigation of voting equipment much like the ongoing investigation in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Laughlin, who is contemplating a run for governor, said an effort to “rummage through already counted ballots while employing statistical tricks” in search of nonexistent voter fraud would only help Democrats raise money and harm his party in upcoming elections.
Citing the fact that Republicans did well in Pennsylvania in the 2020 election, he wrote, “That’s not a sign of a stolen election.”
Laughlin is the first Republican in his state to break with Trump over his voter fraud claims.
