Ron DeSantis says Trump’s claims of stolen 2020 election weren’t ‘true’

Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said on Friday that Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was rigged are not true.

“All those theories that were put out did not prove to be true,” Mr DeSantis told The New York Times during a campaign stop in Iowa.

“It was not an election that was conducted the way I think that we want to, but that’s different than saying Maduro stole votes or something like that,” he added. “Those theories, you know, proved to be unsubstantiated.”

Mr DeSantis, seen as the former president’s chief rival in the Republican primary, has in the past largely avoided direct criticisms of Mr Trump’s repeatedly disproven election claims.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.