Cruz on Fla. Recount: I’m ‘Deeply Concerned that What Might Be Playing out Is as an Attempt To Steal the Election’

‘We can’t allow people to be stealing votes and we need to be on guard against that’

RGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to another of Tuesday’s winners, Texas Republican Ted Cruz, a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he joins us from his home in Houston. Senator, welcome to “Face the Nation.”

SENATOR TED CRUZ: Thank you, Margaret. Good morning and- and- and welcome back yourself. Congratulations on your new son.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I appreciate that. Thank you very much. A little bit of history here you were part of President Bush’s legal team back in 2000 during the Florida recount. We are looking once again at questions about what is happening and a recount there. What is going on? Is this political conspiracy like the president suggests or is this just incompetence?

SEN. CRUZ: Well listen, I think there is certainly reason to be concerned. Florida’s history on recounts has- has not been great. You’ve got each of the counties there that- that have different- different commissioners. I spoke yesterday with my colleague Marco Rubio who’s- who’s following what’s happening there closely and is- and is deeply concerned that- that- that what might be playing out is as an attempt to steal the election. I hope that’s not it. I think everyone needs to be vigilant. Every vote needs to be counted. But at the same time we can’t allow people to be stealing votes and we need to be on guard against that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: A bit of both, you say— it could be getting stolen or it could just be incompetence?

SEN. CRUZ: It- the- the- it could almost always be a bit of both of incompetence and- and the potential for malfeasance. But- but any time you have a recount, you have an invitation for people to- to- to violate the law and try to advance their partisans. In- in 2000, in Bush versus Gore, on election night, George W. Bush had about- a 3,000 vote lead and there ended up being a total of four recounts in Florida over and over and over again, and over the course of those four recounts, Bush’s lead dropped from about 3,000 votes all the way down to 537 votes and- and- and the mantra of the Democrats is they wanted to keep counting and counting and counting the same votes over and over again until they managed to drop the votes to the other side. I- I think that suggests if you’re recounting, the numbers ought to stay the same or roughly the same and if they’re moving consistently in one direction it- it- it suggests you may not have a fair and level playing field in terms of those counting.

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