Republican who bashed Trump over election fraud claims now backs him for president

A GOP Senate candidate who previously criticized Donald Trump for making false claims about the 2020 election says he's now backing him in the 2024 presidential election, Insider reported.

Frank LaRose voiced his criticism of Trump days after the 2020 election when he was Ohio Secretary of State. He now seeks to represent his state as a senator.

In a statement, LaRose said Trump's ability to strike "so much fear in the opposition" and his refusal to "back down from a fight, even at his own peril" is why he's supporting the former president.

"His enemies, foreign and domestic, will stop at nothing in their attempt to keep him from winning this race," said LaRose.

But when speaking with reporters back in 2020, LaRose rejected Trump's claim of a rigged election, calling it "irresponsible."

"I certainly have faith in Ohio's elections, and I believe that other states… almost all, I think all the other states do it very well also," LaRose said at the time. "All I'm saying is there's a reason why there's an opportunity to present evidence in a courtroom, and if you have that evidence you have to bring it forward and vet it out."

"We've gone down the path of constantly challenging the elections when we don't like the results," said LaRose. "I think it was irresponsible when members of the Democratic Party claimed the Georgia election was stolen and didn't have evidence, and I think it's irresponsible when Republicans say an election was stolen and don't have evidence. If anyone has evidence they need to show it."