The former unlawfully appointed acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary who ran the agency like a SuperPAC for the insurrectionist former president refused to state outright that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.
Chad Wolf, who illegally ran the department and steadily refused to vacate the office throughout the former president’s term, refused to directly answer when asked by CNN’s Jim Acosta if President Biden won “fair and square” (he did). “Joe Biden is president,” Wolf replied, mimicking the phrase Republicans have liked to use in order to evade actually answering the question. Wolf then feigned outrage when Acosta said he sounded like a conspiracy theorist after making nonsense claims about fraud.
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“Acosta pointed out that Trump pressed his election lies in lawsuits that were shot down more than 60 times in court (often by Republican judges and even some appointed by Trump),” HuffPost reported. “You are the former acting secretary of Homeland Security and you’re spreading doubt and fear,” Acosta said. But that’s not anything new for Chad Wolf, who gladly ignored the very real issue of white supremacist violence to stoke anti-immigrant fear for his boss. But first, the clip.
”Do you believe that [President Biden] won that election fair and square,” Acosta asks. “I believe that—I just answered the question, first let me answer it in two parts,” Unlawful Chad’s bullshittery begins. “One, Joe Biden is president. Two, a number of irregularities, illegalities, and fraud occurred during 2020—“
Acosta cuts him off at that moment, saying it wasn’t enough to change the outcome of anything. In fact, several of those who have gotten in trouble for committing actual voter fraud were Republicans who eagerly supported the insurrectionist president. “Again, I don’t, I don’t have all of that evidence,” Wolf replies, getting more riled up when Acosta tells him he’s sounding like a conspiracy theorist:
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The Republican belief now is that if a Democratic candidate wins, it’s because they cheated, or someone cheated for them. This is not conspiracy theory relegated to fringe social media accounts: This is the actual thinking espoused by GOP officials like Wolf, whether or not they actually believe it. Chad says it because he’s a good little “yes man” who likely believes there’s a chance he could land back in the role in the future if he publicly says the right thing.
Meanwhile, some actual “irregularities” have been Unlawful Chad’s missing texts, along with those of his deputy Ken Cuccinelli, another acting official unlawfully appointed to DHS. The Office of Special Counsel last November also determined that Wolf’s naturalization stunt during the 2020 Republican National Convention violated the Hatch Act. Wolf had been warned repeatedly that such an event would be unlawful, but continued on with the stunt anyway. Documents would later also reveal that Wolf’s on-the-clock campaigning for the insurrectionist president’s reelection cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Four trips taken by Wolf to the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Texas cost $223,652, roughly $221,300 of which was spent on government planes, according to the documents, which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act,” TIME magazine reported. The outlet notes that a video posted to DHS social media accounts touting the border wall “was indistinguishable from a campaign ad.”
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