Texas’ lieutenant governor on Thursday and said Democrats’ only chance at electoral success this year is through outright theft of the vote.
The comment from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) echoed the line from President Donald Trump, who’s said that the only legitimate outcome of the election is his own reelection.
“The Democrats have just decided this election, Mark, we don’t have to pay attention to any laws,” Patrick told radio host Mark Davis in an interview Thursday flagged by the Texas Tribune.
“We’re gonna use COVID as an excuse to steal the election, and that’s what they’re trying to do everywhere,” he added. “If the president loses Pennsylvania or North Carolina, Mark, or Florida, they’ll lose it because they stole it.”
Trump has similarly said that Democrats will only win through fraud: “The only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged,” he said in August, one of a number of lines undermining voters’ faith in the democratic process.
Despite those comments, polls have shown a relatively tight race for the presidency and U.S. Senate in Texas.