Alabama AG Steve Marshall refuses to call Biden 'duly elected' president
Ella LeeAlabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Thursday refused to call President Joe Biden the "duly elected and lawfully serving" president of the country.
In an exchange with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., during the fourth day of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Marshall repeatedly responded to Whitehouse's question on Biden's legitmacy as president, but would not say Biden won that role lawfully.
Whitehouse asked Marshall to clarify his answer four times, and each time, Alabama's top legal officer declined to elaborate.
USA TODAY reached out to the Alabama attorney general's office for comment.
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Marshall was invited to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee by the panel's GOP leadership in opposition to Jackson's confirmation.
His answer followed a line of questioning by Whitehouse on the Alabama attorney general's ties to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack. At the time, Marshall was head of the Rule of Law Defense Fund — affiliated with the Republican Attorneys General Association — which sent a robocall on Jan. 6 encouraging people to march to the Capitol, the Tennessean reported.
Marshall denied knowledge of the robocall or seeking donations for Jan. 6-related activities, and said the House committee investigating the attack had not asked him for testimony.
There is no evidence the 2020 election was fraudulent. Biden received more than 81 million votes and 306 electoral votes, while former President Donald Trump received more than 74 million votes and 232 electoral votes.
Lawsuits, recounts, forensic audits and partisan reviews all affirmed the results of the election were legitimate, and officials from both parties have debunked claims of widespread voter fraud repeatedly.
