(The Center Square) \u2013 The two highest-ranking Democratic elected officials in Pennsylvania emphasized the legitimacy of the 2020 election results following President Donald Trump\u2019s primetime address on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was an unfortunate day for America to have really an unhinged president in the White House spewing a whole bunch of conspiracy theories that are just simply not connected to reality,\u201d Shapiro said on MS NOW<\/a> Friday morning about Trump\u2019s speech the night prior. \u201cI mean, I will remind you and remind your viewers that every single time Donald Trump and his enablers have been forced to produce evidence to back up his ridiculous claims, he’s failed.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro, who served as the state\u2019s attorney general during the 2020 presidential election, said that efforts made to challenge the election results in Pennsylvania were not successful.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was largely because they could never produce the evidence to back up the president’s BS,\u201d Shapiro said, noting previous legally unsubstantiated claims from Trump that the 2020 election was stolen.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., served as the state\u2019s lieutenant governor during the 2020 election.<\/p>\n \u201cThat election was absolutely secure, fair, and accurate,\u201d Fetterman said on CNN<\/a> Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fetterman, who has increasingly been at odds with fellow Democrats<\/a> over several positions he\u2019s taken with Republicans during the second Trump administration, noted how Pennsylvania\u2019s current Secretary of State Al Schmidt is a Republican who has also emphasized the legitimacy of that election<\/a>.<\/p>\n Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told reporters on Friday that investigations led by the Trump administration<\/a> weren\u2019t about \u201crehashing the 2020 election.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just exposing what took place, and to make sure it never happens again. And there\u2019s some really easy steps that can be taken to secure our elections. And it shouldn\u2019t be a partisan issue,\u201d Mullin said. \u201cThis should be something that every American, regardless if you\u2019re a Republican, you\u2019re a Democrat, you\u2019re an independent, you\u2019re a Libertarian, regardless if you live in a blue state or you live in a red state, everybody should know that their vote counts.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe Biden bested Trump by roughly 80,000 votes during the 2020 election to win Pennsylvania\u2019s 20 electoral votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mullin also claimed that DHS identified 250,000 non-citizens registered to vote in four states, including Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Fetterman and Shapiro pushed back on both claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t know why the president is dragging up all of this stuff, you’re the president,\u201d Fetterman said. \u201cDo something positive, and you are talking about 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s been settled over six years ago,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt’s deeply unhelpful, and that distracts important things, especially like the Iranian War right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro noted that it is illegal for non-citizens to vote in Pennsylvania and said that his administration takes the sanctity of elections \u201cvery, very seriously.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I would say to the administration is, if you have any real evidence of this, provide it to us,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cWe want to work to make sure that there’s integrity always in our system, as we believe that there is, because we’ve had free and fair, safe and secure elections repeatedly, sometimes where Donald Trump has lost, sometimes where he has won.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so I would just say, if you got information, share it with us, and let’s work together to address it,\u201d Shapiro continued. \u201cBut I think at the end of the day, what they really have is a bunch of conspiracy theories, and they’re just trying to suck up to their boss and please him at a time where he is more and more unhinged and disconnected from reality.\u201d<\/p>\n Fetterman also said that a \u201cvast majority\u201d of counties in the state are deep red and that they\u2019ve not encountered that kind of fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUntil I see evidence that over a quarter million migrants that are registered to vote, then yeah, that would make me reconsider some of these things, but there’s no evidence, and I don’t expect that we’ll see any of that,\u201d Fetterman said.<\/p>\n During Trump\u2019s 25-minute address<\/a>, he also accused China of meddling in U.S. elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shapiro seemingly didn\u2019t buy that statement from Trump, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, if the president was really actually concerned about Chinese attempts to meddle in our elections, he would have raised it when he was with Xi,\u201d Shapiro said, noting Trump\u2019s recent meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping<\/a> in May. \u201cInstead, he went overseas and came home with absolutely nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe sort of cowered in the presence of Xi,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Following Trump\u2019s visit to China, the president said that he was able to secure deals with China<\/a> that would deliver for American workers, farmers, and industry.<\/p>\n Shapiro claimed that Trump\u2019s speech on Thursday was an effort to \u201csuppress the vote\u201d and “undermine people\u2019s confidence\u201d in elections and emphasized that his administration is prepared to have safe and secure elections in the fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople will have access to the ballot box, whether they choose to vote by mail or they choose to vote in person,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n Following Trump\u2019s address on late Thursday evening, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., wrote on social media<\/a> advocating for the SAVE America Act.<\/p>\n The SAVE America Act<\/a>, would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and establish new voter identification standards nationwide, according to FOX43<\/a>. Supporters of that proposal believe it is needed to secure elections, while those who oppose think it would federalize election oversight and create barriers for voters.<\/p>\n