GOP official on CNN scrambles to justify Trump-inspired threats against election workers

Ohio's secretary of state Frank LaRose downplayed threats against election officials from Donald Trump supporters who believe his lies about alleged fraud.

The former president insisted once again, this time during Tuesday night's debate, that he did not lose the 2020 election, and CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked the Republican secretary of state about the corrosive effects those false claims have on voter confidence and public safety.

"We should always hold our election officials accountable," LaRose said. "That means questioning the work that they do in Ohio, we run our elections so well that the losers know they lost. That's what every state should do. Of course, there are legal mechanisms that candidates can use to file their appeals, and that's the process that can play out."

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LaRose's counterpart in Michigan, Democratic secretary of state Jocelyn Benson, testified Wednesday in a congressional hearing that threats motivated by Trump's "lies and misinformation" made election workers in her state afraid to be seen in public, and the GOP official suggested election workers brought some of the abuse on themselves.

"Of course, threats of violence are never acceptable, but let's not sensationalize this either," LaRose said. "We've not seen any widespread or systematic threats against our election officials. We work with local law enforcement, but we also train our elections officials to de-escalate situations to bring the temperature down. If people come into their polling location and they're a little bit over-excited. We work to calm them down and, of course, if they show any signs of engaging in violent behavior, then we get law enforcement involved. We don't mess around with that."

Trump himself threatened to prosecute and imprison his political opponents – including election officials and individual voters – for alleged corruption related to his 2020 election loss, and LaRose suggested that was business as usual.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with what he said," LaRose said. "Of course, with the responsibility to run elections also comes accountability, and if somebody is breaking the law, if they have violated their oath to conduct free and fair elections in their jurisdiction, then they should face consequences under the law. They get their day in court – that's nothing new. Public officials are always held accountable for what they do."

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