Republican congressional candidate Jay Feely acknowledged in an Aug. 26 interview that President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, softening on the issue as he seeks swing voters' support in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.
Feely, who is endorsed by Trump, repeatedly declined to answer the same question in a June interview with The Arizona Republic. At the time, he was fending off a primary challenge from a right-wing rival and needed to consolidate support among loyal Republicans in the July 21 primary.
Pressed four times, he told The Republic he wanted to look forward rather than backward, that there was a "concerted effort" to hide information about Hunter Biden's laptop from the American public, and that he was personally impacted by Maricopa
County's Election Day tabulation issues in 2022.
"I think that election has already been adjudicated," he said. "Our focus should be solely on 2026 and the future of this country."
Feely gave a more straightforward answer when asked two months later on Arizona PBS.
"Yeah, President Trump lost that election," he told Arizona Horizon host Ted Simons on Aug. 26. "And we need to make sure that, going forward, everyone has confidence in the election process."
The pivot symbolizes the pressures on Feely, a former Arizona Cardinals kicker and sports commentator running in one of the country's key swing districts.
To win the nomination in Arizona's 1st Congressional District, Feely needed to satisfy Scottsdale's MAGA-friendly primary electorate. But he had to do so without alienating a general election voter base that has a decidedly on-again, off-again attitude toward Trump.
Brady Smith, a strategist with the campaign, said in a written statement to The Republic that Feely's position has not changed.
"Jay's position has been consistent: (Democratic President) Joe Biden won the 2020 election, but the media deliberately discredited and suppressed stories like the Hunter Biden laptop story to protect Biden, which certainly influenced the election," Smith wrote.
Swing voters are likely to decide the outcome of the congressional race: In 2024, the battleground was the only district in Arizona to collectively vote for the Republican Trump for president and Democrat Ruben Gallego for the U.S. Senate, underscoring its split personality.
Trump has begun rehashing the discredited election fraud claims leading up to the 2026 midterms, which are expected to be challenging for Republicans.
Feely's Democratic opponent, Amish Shah, was also invited to the Arizona PBS public-affairs program. He declined to attend.
Colin Lauderdale, a Shah campaign spokesperson, noted Shah is planning to participate in a TV debate hosted by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission in early October. He did not provide a reason for Shah's absence.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump-endorsed House candidate Jay Feely concedes Trump lost in 2020
