Rep. Renee Ellmers said Tuesday that although North Carolina is often viewed as solidly conservative, the southern state is more “purple” than many realize.
“North Carolina is a very purple state. I know sometimes it gets lumped into the category of ‘red state’ but it really isn’t,” she told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” “It’s very diverse and the population and the demographics are changing.”
But Ellmers, who in June became the first GOP congressional incumbent to lose a seat in 2016 to a primary opponent, believes the state’s voters will eventually get behind Donald Trump.
“The people are coming out in droves for him,” the North Carolina Republican said. “North Carolinians believe in America. They believe in the Democratic process. And they want it to work. That’s why they’re putting their faith behind Donald Trump.”
North Carolina’s voters are almost evenly split between the two major party candidates in the latest CNN/ORC poll out Monday, with Clinton is holding 48% among likely voters to Trump’s 47%.
But Ellmers isn’t convinced that the process is working. Like her party’s presidential nominee, she said she believes that the election system is “rigged” against the businessman.
She cited media bias as one of her main reasons for distrust in the system.
“We even have a situation in North Carolina where over 2,000 dead individuals 110 years old or older were found on the rolls of registry,” Ellmers said. “And these are the things that we see and most of those individuals are Democrats.”
Cuomo pushed back saying that neither Ellmers nor Trump has given an example of proof that the electoral system is rigged against him.
Ellmers conceded that point but argued Trump’s comments were more philosophical.
“We’re even finding out that the FBI and the State Department was asking for quid pro quo,” she said, referring to hacked emails from Clinton’s campaign chairman put out by WikiLeaks. “He’s looking at this from a 30,000 foot level and he’s saying, ‘When you add it all up, it does amount to fraud.'”
And when lawmakers and pundits criticize Trump for not providing proof of a fraudulent system, Ellmers said it is an attack on the American people.
“It’s a cumulative issue for Donald Trump and what he’s talking about. You add it all up and the stack is against him,” she said. “When you criticize him, you criticize the American people.”
