BENTONVILLE -- President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Tuesday.
"I think it is absolutely accurate to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election," Rutledge said in her strongest such statement regarding that race. Rutledge was one of 18 state attorneys general in a lawsuit brought by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton challenging election returns after the Nov. 3 general election. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that lawsuit, citing a lack of standing by the attorneys general involved to challenge the election returns in other states.
That and all the other legal challenges brought by former President Donald Trump and his allies who contested his defeat have all either been rejected or not taken up by the courts, Rutledge said. Those courts settled the matter, Rutledge told reporters who met with her at the Greater Bentonville Chamber of Commerce. She said she was in Northwest Arkansas for a number of meetings with constituents.
The legal system "was the proper place for those issues to be brought up," she said.
Rutledge criticized the impeachment of Trump. The U.S. House filed charges to be tried in the Senate, accusing Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol building by a pro-Trump mob after a rally in which the outgoing president spoke to them and claimed the election was stolen.
Members of Congress fled their chambers when the mob broke in, interrupting the vote certifying Trump's loss. One Capitol Police officer was killed, five other people have died either during the attack or since, hundreds of police were reported injured and at least 193 mob members have been charged so far.
"Impeachment was set up to remove someone from office, and it is unfortunate it is being used against someone who is no longer in office," Rutledge said.
The attorney general is an announced candidate for governor in 2022. Republican primary rivals Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn't respond to requests for comment and Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin declined to comment.
There will not be much difference between what the candidates say in the Republican primary for governor, Rutledge predicted, but she has a proven record from her two four-year terms as attorney general. She is serving her second term.
In other issues, Rutledge told reporters her office is preparing for its scheduled March 29 hearing with other states on the case before the U.S. Supreme Court on whether a work requirement is proper to qualify for federal assistance under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.