OREM, Utah, Oct. 17, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A debate between Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and independent candidate Evan McMullin turned testy when McMullin challenged the incumbent U.S. Senator about his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
A question during Monday night’s debate at Utah Valley University about whether President Joe Biden “fairly” won the 2020 election sparked the exchange, which ended with Lee demanding an apology.
“Joe Biden is our president,” Lee said. “He was chosen in the only election that matters: the election held by the Electoral College. It is on that basis that I voted to certify the election results. The Electoral College cast its vote; Joe Biden won that.
“Now, as to whether there were errors, as to whether some states might have conducted their elections better than others, there’s always room for debate and questions about that.”
McMullin called Lee’s comments about the importance of the Electoral College “rich.”
“And I think you knew how important it was when you sought to urge the White House that had lost an election to find fake electors to overturn the will of the people,” he said, referring to text messages obtained by CNN that indicate Lee lobbied and encouraged the White House in its efforts to overturn the election.
“Sen. Lee, that was the most egregious betrayal of our nation’s Constitution in its history by a U.S. senator, I believe, and it will be your legacy,” said McMullin, a former undercover CIA officer who ran as an independent candidate for president against Trump in 2016.
“As recently as this year and even tonight, you’re still casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election. You’re doing a tremendous disservice to this country, Sen. Lee. You have betrayed your oath to the Constitution with this.”
Lee took offense to the accusations.
“Evan, that’s not true. You know that’s not true,” he responded. “You, sir, owe me an apology.”
Lee described his actions in the weeks following the election as looking into “rumors” that ended up not being true.
“In the days leading up to Jan. 6, when the votes were going to be open and counted, I had a job to do,” he said. “There were rumors circulating, suggesting that some states were considering switching out their slates of electors. If that were true, I would need to know about it.
“I did research on that. I made phone calls to figure out whether the rumors were true. The rumors were false. On that basis, I voted to certify the results of the election.”
A follow-up question about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol opened the door for the independent candidate to again press Lee on his involvement in what McMullin called “a violent insurrection with the intention of overturning the American republic.”
“With your knowledge of the Constitution, Sen. Lee, you sought to find a weakness in our system. You advised the White House to find an alternative slate of electors for Trump to overturn the will of the people,” he said.
Lee denied the allegations, calling McMullin’s comments “an information-free, truth-free statement.”
“Look, there is absolutely nothing to the idea that I would have ever supported, ever did support, the fake electors plot. Nothing. There’s not a scintilla of evidence suggesting that, and yet you continue to insist that with a cavalier, reckless disregard for the truth,” Lee said.
“Yes, there were people who behaved very badly on that day. I was not one of them. I was one of the people trying to dismantle this situation, trying to stop it from happening,” he added.
McMullin had Lee’s support against Trump in 2016, a fact the independent candidate reminded the senator of during Monday night’s debate.
Lee doesn’t appear to think very highly of McMullin’s candidacy for U.S. Senate, however, calling him “an opportunistic gadfly supported by the Democratic Party.”
Recent polls show Lee and McMullin are locked in a tight race with Election Day just three weeks away.
The newest poll released Thursday is an insider survey conducted by Hill Research Consultants for the out-of-state Put Utah First SuperPAC, which supports McMullin’s campaign.
According to the poll of 500 active Utah voters conducted Oct. 8-11, McMullin has jumped to a 4-point lead over Lee.
“In a too-close-to-call contest, Evan McMullin leads Mike Lee by just 4 percentage points, 46% to 42%, matching the 4% potential margin of error for the random sample poll,” the survey says.
“Leaners” increased McMullin’s advantage to 6 points, 49% to 43%, the summary said.
“The current results reflect a significant double-digit shift in the race. A comparable poll conducted by this firm in late June 2022 showed McMullin trailing Lee by 13 points, with leaners included.”
The Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics survey published Oct. 10 indicates 41% of Utahns would vote for Lee, while 37% would choose McMullin if the election were held today. Dan Jones & Associates surveyed 801 registered Utah voters Oct. 3-6 for the poll, which has a 3.5% margin of error.
The debate was moderated by longtime KSL Newsradio host Doug Wright.
I was astounded at how Mike Lee, who calls himself a good Mormon can stand up there and bold face LIE! We have all seen his text messages from January 6th, yet he is ahead in the votes. I guess because Utahns are more concerned about the defunked Republican party and Donald Trump than they are about the leadership of our State. He is Donald Trump in Mike Lee clothing. Happy Halloween Utahns. Do not expect different results when you keep voting for the same awful human beings.
Mike Lee should be ashamed to even show his face! He’s a snake! His loyalty to The Orange Man is seriously pathetic. He is lying to the LDS population of our state and they believe him. He is only for himself period. I despise the man!