By Jacob Jarvis
Senior Reporter
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Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) believes he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) must look at oversight for mail-in balloting or Republicans face perpetual election defeats, as they both defend President Donald Trump's election lawsuits.
Graham has staunchly backed Trump's decision to not concede to Joe Biden, after networks called the Electoral College in the Democrats' favor. He suggested Trump should continue fighting and pursue all allegations of foul play related to voting.
A point Trump and his allies have taken particular issue is has been mail-in ballots—which the president criticized throughout his election campaign, warning without evidence they could lead to widespread fraud—and the tabulation of these votes.
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Commenting on this, Graham told Fox News' Sean Hannity: "Mitch McConnell and I need to come up with an oversight of mail-in balloting, if we don't do something about voting by mail we're going to lose the ability to elect a Republican in this country."
Graham suggested that Republicans are cheated out of elections when they lose, adding: "The state of play in America in 2020 for Republicans is not good."
"We owe it to those who voted for President Trump and the country at large to test the system. If we don't deal with voting by mail in 2020, we'll never win the White House again," he said. "The biggest issue, the biggest difference between 2016 and 2020 is the mass use of voting by mail. It is the wild, wild west at post offices and there are no rules. And if we don't come up with some rules pretty soon, we're going to get killed in perpetuity in presidential campaigns."
Graham further suggested Democrats do not care about the allegations, the evidence for which has been questioned, because they only care that Trump loses.
"Let's fight back and give President Trump all the due process the law allows him," Graham said.
McConnell echoed the sentiment, saying Trump had the right to pursue legal action in regard to the election should he wish to do so.
"We have the system in place to consider concerns and President Trump is 100 percent within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options," McConnell said as he opened the Senate on Monday.
Of people opposing the actions, he said: "At this time last week, small-business owners in cities across America were boarding up their windows in case President Trump appeared to win and far-left mobs decided to reprise their summertime rioting.
"Suffice to say, a few legal inquiries from the president do not exactly spell the end of the republic."
On what outcome there will be, he said: "This process will reach its resolution. Our system will resolve any recounts or litigation."
Newsweek has contacted Graham and McConnell for comment.
Trump has rallied against calls of the election going against him, suggesting that he is the victor if only the ballots he deems to be legal are factored in.
He has, without evidence, suggested there has been a Democratic plot to steal the election.
His team has launched a raft of election-related lawsuits in key states, largely focused on questioning the approaches towards mail-in ballots.
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