Republicans dodging reporters at all costs after Trump demands vote count end early

On Tuesday, Politico reported that Republican lawmakers and officials are dodging media inquiries into President Donald Trump's demand to cut off vote counting early — even if some of them may privately feel horrified by the president's rhetoric.

"Sen. Ben Sasse didn’t respond to a DM. Chris Christie didn’t return a text," reported Ryan Lizza and Daniel Lippman. "A message to the spokesman for Sen. Josh Hawley, an up-and-comer in the party, went unanswered. Sen. Lindsey Graham didn’t return a call after POLITICO left a voicemail for him. (Graham’s outgoing message offered the option of sending a fax but a reporter did not avail himself of that method of communication.)"

"White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah promised to call back but never did," said the report. "Rudy Giuliani went silent, even though a reporter sweetened the deal by agreeing to hear him out on the Hunter Biden intrigue, a current Giuliani obsession. Karl Rove was kind enough to respond, but he was too busy to discuss the president’s comments sowing doubt and mistrust about the sanctity of the election process, because, he said, his 'flight is getting ready to shut the door and pull away from the gate.'"

Despite all this, said the report, many Republicans on Capitol Hill are horrified by Trump's behavior — they just aren't willing to say it publicly.

“It’s despicable and un-American but not surprising,” said a Senate Republican staffer. “They have never had any respect for the institutions of democracy that don’t benefit them. The beauty of federalism is that we leave it to the states to make their own rules and the idea that a president would overturn a state official’s decision to benefit them in an election is just kind of the antithesis of what Republicans used to believe in.”

You can read more here.