NBC’s Kristen Welker Grills GOP Senator on Whether He’ll ‘Absolutely’ Say Trump Lost in 2020

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) sidestepped “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker’s question when she questioned him Sunday about whether Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

“I want to ask you this question, Senator, to put this to rest. Can you say definitively here and now that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election? Welker asked.

“Kristen, Joe Biden was elected president in 2020. It was an unfair election in many ways,” Cotton said of that year’s election, which the 2024 GOP nominee recently admitted to losing after years of insisting otherwise.

Cotton’s comments come after the former president’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), declined to answer a similar question from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in what Welker described as a “big” moment from the last week’s vice presidential debate.

Vance, who has falsely claimed that Trump had previously won that year’s election, responded that he was “focused on the future,” which Walz called a “damn non-answer.” Vance later defended himself by claiming that the media is “obsessed with talking about” that year’s election.

On Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also described the 2020 election question as part of a “gotcha game” during his appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

Cotton claimed in his interview with Welker that the 2020 election was unfair “in many ways.”

“So it’s clear that Joe Biden was elected president, we know that in part because —,” the senator said before Welker intervened.

“But did Trump lose? Just to the…’ she asked.

“Joe Biden is elected, Kristen,” Cotton said.

He continued, “There is a process by which we elect presidents. Voting will take place in November. You have a vote in the Electoral College. You certify the election. And then you have the inauguration. Joe Biden was elected president. As a result, everything has gone to hell in a handbasket.”

Welker noted that the 2020 election was “one of the safest” in American history.

“But don’t you just want to say that Trump lost? Why don’t you just say the simple…,” Welker said.

“Kristen…” Cotton said.

“If Biden is president, can you just say, ‘Trump lost?’” Welker asked.

“Joe – Joe Biden was elected president in 2020,” Cotton responded before claiming that year’s election was “highly irregular” and stating that Trump, along with the Republican National Committee, is focused on “election integrity” in 2024.