NCEI co-chairs slam RNC ‘litmus test’ regarding 2020 election: ‘Easiest job interview question ever’

In response to reporting that job applicants at the Republican National Committee (RNC) are being asked during interviews if they believe the 2020 election was stolen — an apparent litmus test for working at the RNC — former Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) and Zach Wamp (R-TN), both co-chairs of Issue One’s bipartisan National Council on Election Integrity, issued the following statement:

“Was the 2020 election stolen? That’s the easiest job interview question ever — the answer is no,” said Rep. Comstock. “And as a former senior RNC staffer myself, I would hope that anyone who is asked a factually false question as a requirement for RNC employment would publicly call it out.

“The reality is: Any major U.S. political party that’s serious about governing and defending the rule of law should be playing an active role in building trust in elections and strengthening democracy, not recruiting election deniers who will continue to spread 2020 grievances.”

Rep. Wamp added: “The RNC should be focused on electing Republican candidates up and down the ballot, not conspiracy theories about elections from years past.

“The RNC should not be held to any litmus tests handed down by the likes of Rudy Guliani, Mike Lendell, or Lin Wood. Nor should the RNC be used as a piggy bank for any single candidate. Honor and truth should be a requirement for any leader, regardless of party, if we are to keep our republic.”

In interviews conducted by the January 6 Select Committee, numerous aides to former President Trump and members of his administration testified that Trump had lost the 2020 election:

Former Attorney General Bill Barr: “I made it clear I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen… you can’t live in a world where the incumbent administration stays in power based on its view unsupported by specific evidence that there was fraud in the election.”

Ivanka Trump: “I respect Attorney General Barr, so I accepted what he was saying.”

Trump Campaign Manager Bill Stepien: “It’s an easier job to be telling the president about, you know, wild allegations… It’s a harder job to be telling him on the back end that, ‘Yeah, that wasn’t true.’” Stepien said the chances of Trump winning the election were “very, very, very bleak.”

Former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue: “I said something to the effect of, ‘Sir, we’ve done dozens of investigations, hundreds of interviews. The major allegations are not supported by the evidence developed. We’ve looked in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada… We’re doing our job. Much of the info you’re getting is false.’”