Arizona secretary of state tells Trump to 'accept' his election loss and 'move on' ahead of Phoenix rally

• In a CNN interview Friday, the Arizona secretary of state said Trump needs to "move on" from his election loss.
• Trump is slated to speak Saturday at a rally in Phoenix titled a "Rally to Protect Our Elections."
• Hobbs, a Democrat running for governor, said Trump's visit to the state was "dangerous."

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on Friday said former President Donald Trump needed to "accept" his loss in last year's election and "move on" ahead of his appearance at a rally in Phoenix on Saturday.

"Well, it is dangerous," said Hobbs, a Democrat, when asked by CNN's Jim Acosta about Trump's upcoming visit. "I'm glad you pointed that out. But the bottom line is it doesn't matter what he says or does, nothing is going to change the outcome of the 2020 election. But it also doesn't change how dangerous this is."

Hobbs said yesterday Trump should "accept" his loss to President Joe Biden and "move on" from it as the former president travels Saturday to the Arizona Federal Theater for the "Rally to Protect Our Elections" in Phoenix. The event, according to AZ Central, is hosted by the conservative nonprofit Turning Point Action. In addition to Trump's address, the event will feature a forum with Republican candidates for Arizona governor, according to the report.

"The bottom line is that Arizonians are tired of being led by conspiracy theorists," Hobbs, who in June announced her candidacy for Arizona governor, said. "They don't support this fake audit and they're ready for leaders who are going to put those partisan games aside and deal with real issues."

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Trump lost the race in Arizona in one of the key wins for Biden that afforded him the path to victory. In the months that followed his loss, Trump and his GOP allies refused to concede the race and spread baseless conspiracy theories about election safety. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in last year's general election.

His baseless claims fueled the deadly riot at US Capitol on January 6.

Republicans in the Arizona Senate late last year commissioned a controversial audit by a private firm to investigate baseless claims of voter fraud in the election. The still underway review is focused on Maricopa County, which encompasses the city of Phoenix, which Biden won by more than two percentage points.

Election officials in the state have found just 182 cases of potential voter fraud out of more than 3 million ballots cast in last year's election, the Associated Press reported.