ABC Anchor David Muir Pushes Back Against Chris Christie’s False Election Comparison

During a commentary session on the January 6 Commission hearings, ABC anchor David Muir pushed back against Chris Christie after the former New Jersey Governor compared the 2020 election crisis to previous elections.

After emotional testimony from Georgia state electors and staff, Christie went on to criticize Trump’s election lies. In the past, Christie has spoken openly about Trump’s actions as a “national embarrassment.” Christie said he hopes that the hearings will spark outrage amongst Republican voters and will be seen by millions of Americans. Muir added that despite the fact that 20 million viewers saw the initial hearing, Republican candidates are still pushing election denial in their campaigns.

Christie stated that the election denialism “goes back to 2000” when he suggested Democratic nominee Al Gore‘s supporters initially refused to accept his loss of Florida.

“You had supporters of Al Gore, who even after Vice President Gore conceded the election and certified it himself as the president of the Senate, refused to accept George W. Bush as legitimate,” Christie said. “You’ve heard Hillary Clinton say she still doesn’t accept the 2016 results as legitimate. This is a dangerous thing in this country brought to a new level in 2020.”

In response, Muir cut in, saying: “I have to interrupt right there because you also know, Governor, that Al Gore stood before the nation and actually conceded and did something very different than what we witnessed. This is much different.”

“What I’m saying is this is a disturbing trend and pattern that’s been increasing in intensity from 2000 to 2016, now to 2020,” Christie responded. 

Before the session ended, Muir stated that the former New Jersey governor offered a flawed comparison between the elections.

“I get what you’re saying. I just don’t want our audience to think I’m not aware that there isn’t a real equivalency here when you have a former president who is sowing seeds of doubt in this particular election,” Muir stated.