The former Ohio treasurer and state representative also said that the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack against the U.S. Capitol should be replaced with one to investigate unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud from the 2020 election.
Mandel is running to capture the GOP nomination to defend the seat held by retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH).
The Marine Corps veteran took the stage at CPAC Friday and told the audience the 2020 presidential election was rigged against former President Donald Trump.
Mandel said:
I want to say something to everyone here, and I’m the only candidate in Ohio who’s willing to say this. And I want to say it to all you very clearly, and every time I say it, the liberal media gets up in arms, and the squishy RINO Republicans get up in arms. But I want to say it very clearly and very directly: I believe this election was stolen from Donald
J. Trump.You know, the Liz Cheneys, the Adam Kinzingers, these are traitors. These are traitors. We should abolish the January 6th commission and replace it with the November 3rd commission.
Cheney and Kinzinger have both been critical of Trump, and both sit on the Jan. 6 committee.
Mandel’s campaign page displays a poll credited to WPA Intelligence that shows him in the lead in the primary over numerous candidates, including J.D. Vance.
POLITICO reported earlier this month that Vance’s campaign advisors believed he was in trouble, and cited attacks against him from Mandel as having done damage.
The outlet’s Alex Isenstadt reported, Vance’s decline follows a $2 million-plus TV ad campaign from the Club for Growth and USA Freedom Fund, outside groups that are backing Vance rival Josh Mandel, which have portrayed Vance as an anti-Trump figure.”