CNN anchor shuts down Mullin election comparison: 'That's a false equivalence'

CNN anchor Pamela Brown shut down Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) election comparison on Thursday, saying the contrast he made between the 2016 and 2020 contests was a “false equivalence.” 

Brown initially asked Mullin on Thursday if every state certifies their election results, would he “accept a peaceful transfer of power?” 

“It’s hard to say what you’re going to do or what you’re not because my job is to make sure that irregularities are within the standard that the federal government puts out place, which is us,” Mullin responded during his appearance on CNN’s “The Lead.” “What is irregularities that we’re willing to accept? If it passes irregularities in a district or a state, then absolutely not. It was within those standards that we will.” 

Brown then added that every state “certifies the election result so they have their own processes.” 

“If the elections are certified underneath the standards that they put forth, every state has the right to set…every state sets their own state election laws,” the senator said in response. “But in federal government sets irregularities as to how far those can go. So is it going to be less than 1 percent or is that less than a half percent? Whatever those regularities are. we’ll take that case at a time.” 

The Oklahoma senator, who voted against certifying the 2020 election results while serving as a member of the House, said that currently, both parties will “cry foul” following the outcome of a White House election. 

"You got to remember in 2016, when President Trump won that, Democrats were saying that election was stolen,” he said. 

Brown responded, stating “That's a false equivalence.” 

Mullin disagreed, saying "You're telling me in 2015, Pam, that Democrats didn't say that the election was rigged? They did. They absolutely did."

The CNN anchor, again, said that it was “a false equivalence.” 

"What happened in 2020 was you had a sitting president in office who lost the election, who said it was rigged, it was stolen,” Brown said. “And members of Congress voting against certification that the states had already certified and taking it to the Supreme Court, trying to overturn the will of millions of voters. That is very different.” 

The Republican senator then mentioned the 2000 presidential election when some Democrats objected to the results between former President George Bush and Vice President Al Gore. 

Brown then said, “you are not willing to accept the results of this next election, even if every state certified.” 

Mullin said he had no “issues” looking at it, but “I’m, not going to sit here and tell you what I'm going to do and not going to do until I see the results.” 

“It's not based on who wins it,” he said. “It's based on the results of the regularities. I'm there to make sure that the election is held and is held it within our constitutional boundaries. I will uphold the Constitution. I swore to do that. It doesn't make any difference who wins. Obviously, I love President Trump to win, but if the election is fair and handled in the right way, and I got to vote to certify, I'll vote to certify that.”