In a comprehensive interview, Raffensperger, a Republican, also called the previous day’s US Capitol insurrection “horrible”. The chaos, he said, was the result of two months of people misrepresenting the facts of the November presidential election – including Biden’s victory in Georgia – and spreading misinformation on social media.
“I said from day one that we really have to (be) attentive to our speech, we can’t fool people and play with people and put them into an emotional frenzy,” he said.
“It is one thing to have a peaceful, non-violent demonstration, you know, or a parade to get your point across. But that, well, it went way beyond that,” said Raffensperger.
National leaders of both parties should condemn the violence, he said.
“Imagine what our founders would say if they looked at it, you know, what they fought for. It wasn’t so that we could beat each other up. It was so that we could get together and have peaceful and respectful conversations in the halls of Congress, and that’s when we resolve our differences, “said Raffensperger.
Georgia’s elections were fair, said a senior official
Raffensperger reiterated that Georgia’s elections were fair. “The facts are on our side,” he said. “We had fair and honest elections in Georgia.”
Just because you don’t like the results of an election, it doesn’t mean that you are getting in the way of violence, he said.
“We have resolved our differences in the corridors of our general assemblies, in the corridors of Congress, but not in the streets by intimidating, shooting and beating people. It’s a gang, ”he said.
“It’s a pity that I had to get to that point. It’s also a pity that many political leaders, elected political leaders in the Republican Party, didn’t have the courage to stand up and say, Mr. President, here are the real numbers are , and I believe the real numbers “, he added.
Trump damaged the Republican Party during the second round of the Georgia Senate, he said, distracting Republican candidates with falsehoods about the presidential race when they should have focused on their own campaigns.
The nation must begin to heal, says Raffensperger
Meanwhile, the deadline for certification of the Georgia Senate election is January 22, although Raffensperger plans to certify the results as soon as possible, he said.
“My heart may be broken as a Republican,” he said, “but we have a job to do.”
Devon M. Sayers of CNN contributed to this report.