MAGA Erupts Over Kathy Griffin’s Trump Election Conspiracy
Fox host Jesse Watters led the charge.
Kathy Griffin’s bizarre claim that Donald Trump didn’t win a “free and fair election” last year has drawn backlash from the right.
Griffin, on the Tuesday episode of her YouTube show, pointed to the “unconstitutional and illegal” move by Elon Musk to offer “million-dollar checks to people if they would vote for Trump.” The comedian, in the episode titled The Un-Cancelation of Kathy Griffin, also cited Trump winning all seven battleground states, which she claimed “has never happened in the history of the U.S.”
On Fox News later that night, host Jesse Watters called Griffin “crazy.”
“No one’s ever won seven swing states?” he responded skeptically, citing the landslide elections of 1984 and 1972. “Reagan and Nixon won 49. According to my calculations, that’s seven swing states times seven.”
Tex. Rep Troy Nehls, who was one of the 127 GOP lawmakers who objected to Arizona’s electors during the Electoral College certification process in January 2021, was also critical of Griffin’s election denialism.
The comedian was “the face of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” he wrote on X.
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Right-wing account Libs of TikTok similarly posted: “Kathy Griffin is now denying the results of the 2024 election. I was told that denying election results is a threat to our democracy. Literally shaking rn.”
Meanwhile, the pro-Trump influencer who goes by the name Gunther Eagleman used a clown emoji in response to her comments.
Griffin has drawn criticism from the right dating back to the beginning of Trump’s first term. In May 2017, Griffin shared an image of her holding up a bloody mask that bore a resemblance to Trump’s decapitated head.
Griffin acknowledged that her claim about Trump not winning a “free and fair election” would get her “in trouble.”
Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images
Trump was furious.
“Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself,” he wrote on X in response. “My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!”
Griffin suffered career repercussions, and a Secret Service investigation even followed. Civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom said on Griffin’s behalf at the time that she “never imagined that it could be misinterpreted as a threat of violence against Trump. That was never what she intended. She has never threatened or committed an act of violence against anyone.”
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Sign in or create an account
Login dialog
Loading comments…