Cruz refuses to say whether he will unconditionally accept results of 2024 election

By Shania Shelton, CNN

(CNN) — Republican Sen. Ted Cruz refused on Wednesday to say whether he will unconditionally accept the results of the 2024 election, the latest in a series of comments by prominent Republicans that seek to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the upcoming presidential contest.

“I think that’s actually a ridiculous question,” replied Cruz when asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” whether he will accept the results of the 2024 election regardless of who wins.

“So you’re asking, ‘Will you promise, no matter what, to agree an election is legitimate regardless of what happens?,’ and that would be an absurd thing to claim. Like, we have an entire election law system: that people challenge elections, elections get overturned, voter fraud gets proven. That happens all the time,” Cruz said.

Cruz, who objected to Arizona’s election results on January 6, 2021, then went on in his interview with Collins to suggest, baselessly, that the 2020 election was rife with fraud.

“So my question for you again, free and fair election, will you accept the results regardless of who wins?” Collins asked.

“If the Democrats win, I will accept the result, but I’m not going to ignore fraud regardless of what happens,” Cruz responded.

Many prominent Republicans, starting with the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, are already casting doubt on the results in November. Trump said earlier this month that he would only accept the 2024 election results “if everything’s honest.” Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, both considered potential Trump running mates, both said they would not have certified the 2020 election results had they been Trump’s vice president, while South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott has refused to say whether he would have certified the results as vice president.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, whom Trump mentioned as a possible running mate on Thursday, said on CNN the same night, “I will accept the results if it’s done in a fair and transparent way.” Carson also raised doubts about widespread mail-in voting on “Laura Coates Live.”

Also on CNN Thursday night, GOP Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, who has also been mentioned as a possible Trump vice presidential contender, was asked if he’d accept the results if Trump loses. “If the states and localities actually follow the rules and procedures and everybody sees the rules followed, then of course, you accept what’s done,” Donalds told CNN’s Abby Phillip.

On Wednesday, Cruz also defended conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who has been scrutinized over conspicuous flag displays at two of his homes in recent years, telling Collins, “this entire hoopla is greatly overstated.”

“I think there is a concerted effort that is driven by Democrats in the Senate to try to delegitimize the court and to try to demonize. We’re seeing it with Justice Clarence Thomas. We’re seeing it with Justice Sam Alito. I think the whole thing is disgraceful,” Cruz said.

Cruz reiterated Alito’s explanation that Alito’s wife hoisted the symbol of discontent in response to profane signs in the neighborhood, including a neighbor posting a sign saying “F**k Trump” near a school bus stop and then a sign attacking his wife, Martha-Ann Alito.

“Listen, there are justices I disagree with, and yet, you should treat everyone with civility and respect, and what Justice Alito said is, his wife was upset,” Cruz said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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