Trump stands by 2020 election fraud claims during presidential debate

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night stood by his claims that the 2020 election was "stolen," stating during the presidential debate that his previous comments about losing the election were sarcastic.

Debate moderator ABC News' “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir asked Trump whether he was admitting that he lost the 2020 election after he claimed prior to the debate that he "lost the election by a whisker," or that he "came up a little short."

"That was said sarcastically," Trump responded. "Look, there's so much proof. All you have to do is look at it, and they should have sent it back to the legislatures for approval. I got almost 75 million votes, the most votes any sitting president has ever gotten. I was told if I got 63 percent, which was what I got in 2016, you can't be beat in the election, people should never be thinking an election is fraudulent. 

"We need two things. We have to have borders, and we have to have good elections," Trump continued. "Our elections are bad, and a lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they're trying to get them to vote."

Muir responded that he watched the videos in which Trump made the comments, and did not note the sarcasm in the comments. 

The exchange occurred during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was also moderated by “ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.