Hoyer agrees with Biden that midterms could be illegitimate, then walks it back

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House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was criticized for appearing to back President Biden’s claim that November’s midterm elections could be illegitimate if Congress doesn’t pass the Democrat-led federal election overhaul that stalled in the Senate earlier this month.

"President Biden is correct," Hoyer told Politico when asked if he agrees with Biden’s claim last week that the midterms could be "illegitimate" if the federal election overhaul package is not passed. "This is about our Democracy. This is about an America that really believes in making sure that the people’s voice is heard and reflected in the outcome of the election."

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Hoyer’s comment drew immediate criticism online from Republicans after Politico wrote that Hoyer "appeared to agree with President JOE BIDEN’s suggestion last week that the 2022 election results may not be valid without the passage of voting rights legislation."

House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) walk from the House floor (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

In a statement to Fox News, Hoyer communications director Margaret Mulkerrin said that Hoyer does not believe the midterm elections will be illegitimate.

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"Leader Hoyer shares President Biden’s concern that Republican attempts to methodically exclude millions of voters are deeply alarming, and raise serious questions that people who want to make their voice heard won’t be able to participate," Mulkerrin said. 

"Leader Hoyer does not believe the 2022 election will be illegitimate, nor would he claim ballots ought to be thrown out if a Democrat loses – simply that millions of Americans have been systematically disenfranchised from our democracy by GOP election suppression legislation, and that we ought to take immediate steps to stop it by passing urgently needed measures to protect the right to vote."

U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wait during votes at the first session of the 117th Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC,  Jan. 3, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis/Pool via REUTERS)

A reporter asked Biden last week if he believed the upcoming election "will be fairly conducted and its results will be legitimate" if the bills don't pass. The president responded that "it all depends on whether or not we're able to make the case to the American people that some of this is being set up to try to alter the outcome of the election." 

Another reporter followed up on the topic later, and the president refused to back off, saying, "I'm not saying it's going to be legit. The increase and the prospect of it being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these reforms passed."

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report