[ad_1]
The next is the transcript of the interview with David Becker, govt director of the Middle for Election Innovation and Analysis and a CBS Information election legislation contributor, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Feb. 8, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by David Becker. He’s the Government Director of the Middle for Election Innovation and Analysis and a CBS Information election legislation contributor. At all times good to have you ever right here, David.
DAVID BECKER: Nice to be again with you, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I need to choose up on a number of issues which have come up in this system. Senator Warner voiced what some Democrats are involved about, arguing that President Trump is laying the groundwork to undermine the upcoming election or intrude in it not directly. And, in actual fact, throughout this system the President is tweeting about American elections being rig– rigged, stolen and a laughing inventory all all over the world. What do you consider these statements right here? Are each events undermining confidence in our election? What do election officers that you simply communicate to really feel and suppose proper now?
DAVID BECKER: Yeah, it’s extremely onerous to foretell the place that is going. —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Yeah. —
DAVID BECKER: — However we are able to take a look at what’s occurred already. The President has signed an unprecedented govt order relating to elections attempting to dictate coverage to the states. That is now been enjoined, blocked by three completely different federal courts. His Division of Justice is in search of extremely delicate knowledge on tons of of tens of millions of American voters, is suing 24 states and D.C. Two federal courts simply up to now few weeks have blocked that. The rest are nonetheless to be heard. The cyber safety equipment that Senator Warner talked about, that had been constructed up below the primary Trump administration to help election officers, has been dismantled. So once I speak to election officers, they’re very involved about this. I believe it is secure to say that is unprecedented. Now we have by no means seen a president attempt to exert govt authority over elections within the states like we’ve got. And naturally that is opposite to the Structure, which particularly grants states the authority to run elections below Article 1, Part 4, the elections clause. Congress may also act, and if Congress does, after all, these legal guidelines will probably be adopted. However each events have tried to cross sweeping payments within the final 5 – 6 years and have failed.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So the Structure, as you simply level out, states it’s the states —
DAVID BECKER: — Proper. —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — who’re going to run these elections. However the President — I need to play what he stated so the general public hears it — he has at the very least 3 times up to now week stated he needs the Republican Get together to nationalize voting and take over voting procedures in 15 states. Take a pay attention.
(Start VT)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Check out Detroit, check out Pennsylvania, check out Philadelphia, you go check out Atlanta, take a look at a number of the locations that — horrible corruption on elections. And the federal authorities shouldn’t permit that. The federal authorities ought to become involved. These are brokers of the federal authorities to depend the votes. If they can not depend the votes legally and actually, then anyone else ought to take over.
REPORTER: However the Structure —
(Finish VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: So what would forestall the president from doing one thing you simply instructed us is unconstitutional?
DAVID BECKER: Effectively, the President would possibly attempt to act and that is why it is so onerous to foretell precisely what is going on to occur, however the courts have been very agency on holding the boundaries of govt energy below the Structure. There was only a courtroom determination a few days in the past from the state of Oregon, a district courtroom there, that denied DOJ entry to this extremely delicate voter knowledge that they had been in search of from Oregon. And particularly stated, once more, that the Structure is evident. The founders carved out elections specifically to say the federal authorities can solely act if Congress acts. The states have the authority they usually expressly excluded the chief from that in any respect. They had been very involved in regards to the excesses of an govt, a president, who would search to consolidate extra energy than the Structure granted by seizing the mechanisms of elections.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So two different issues I need to run by with you. The White Home took down that video that we had been simply discussing with Congressman Gonzales. The main focus has been on the racist portion of it, which was extensively condemned. The video main as much as it that Congressman Gonzales defended was about election software program and safety. In that, while you take heed to it, you hear descriptions of issues with expertise and issues that the speaker says had been anomalies, like in 2025 key states stopped counting at a sure time. Are you able to truth verify a few of this for us?
DAVID BECKER: Yeah, it is a quite common methodology for these which might be spreading lies in regards to the elections, defying, simply throw every thing towards the wall and see what sticks. And the remainder of that video, along with the ending, was additionally troubling as a result of it was a variety of disinformation, simply blatantly false. Now we have paper ballots in the USA. 98% of all Individuals vote on paper ballots. The one exclusion is the state of Louisiana, which is shifting to paper ballots. Which means these paper ballots may be checked towards regardless of the machines tally, and they’re checked. Famously, in Georgia, these paper ballots in 2020 had been counted 3 times, three alternative ways, as soon as totally by hand. Over 5 million ballots counted by hand in 5 days with commentary from each marketing campaign and observers. There isn’t any technique to get round the truth that that is the, 2020 was essentially the most scrutinized election in American historical past. And each time when courts reviewed it, when individuals who lied in regards to the election had been taken to courtroom, the work of election officers withstood that scrutiny. It is actually exceptional. We’re — not solely are our elections not rigged, they’re as clear and verifiable and as safe as they’ve ever been, regardless of whether or not you want the result or not. And we’re seeing disinformation being unfold, on this case, by the President of the USA, focused at his personal supporters, at others who may not like the result of elections. And, sadly, some are believing it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, it is uncommon as a result of the president gained the election and Republicans gained the final election. So when he’s saying now that instantly the system is damaged, it appeared to work when it elected him, nevertheless it did not work when he misplaced in 2020. That, that’s what is contradictory in form of simply the widespread sense model.
DAVID BECKER: That is precisely proper.
MARGARET BRENNAN: However on the info of it, you are saying this has truly been verified time and time once more. However these ballots you simply talked about from Fulton County, we’ve got physique digital camera footage of those FBI brokers going and taking the ballots. Why would the FBI now be taking the ballots? Why was the Director of Nationwide Intelligence there and what would they do with these ballots?
DAVID BECKER: This can be a nice query, and it nonetheless has not been answered. Initially, there was no crime dedicated in 2020. These ballots have been counted and reviewed so many instances. We all know precisely what occurred in Georgia in 2020. Joe Biden gained that state by a comparatively slim margin of 11,779 votes. In 2024, Donald Trump gained that state. Democrats did not in some way have the magical means, whereas out of the White Home, to steal an election in 2020 after which overlook to make use of that energy in 2024 after they had the White Home. So we all know precisely what occurred. If there was a real, sincere assessment of these ballots, it’ll affirm precisely what the end result was, simply as when the cyber ninjas reviewed the Maricopa County ballots in Arizona. They discovered the identical actual final result. As for the Director of Nationwide Intelligence being in Fulton County, there isn’t a viable purpose to have a excessive degree political appointee through the execution of a search warrant. That search warrant is — has many defects, because the physique cam footage confirmed. There was a defect within the deal with after they first confirmed up. That they had to return and get a corrected search warrant. And there is additionally this, this subject of the statute of limitations. There is a 5 yr statute of limitations below federal legislation for any of the crimes that they talked about within the warrant. There have been two particular statutes. That 5 yr statute has expired by any measure, and so I am unsure why a Justice of the Peace signed off on it. We’re unsure why the DNI was in Fulton County inside an area election warehouse. We have heard shifting explanations. First, the Deputy Legal professional Basic stated she occurred to be in Atlanta. I do not know that that is notably credible. —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Yeah. —
DAVID BECKER: — After which the President —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Proper. —
DAVID BECKER: — Then we heard the President directed her after which Legal professional Basic Bondi directed her. We don’t know what truly occurred.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Effectively, we checked and at the very least 9 high Trump administration officers, by CBS standards, raised doubt in regards to the validity or integrity of the 2020 election. That depend doesn’t embrace the President of the USA himself. David Becker, thanks. —
DAVID BECKER: — Thanks Margaret. —
MARGARET BRENNAN: — We’ll be again in a second.
[ad_2]
