Kevin McCarthy echoed Trump's false claim that he won the election, saying Republicans 'will not back down'

• House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy echoed President Donald Trump's false claim that he won the election during a Fox News appearance Thursday.
• "President Trump won this election, so everyone who's listening, do not be quiet," McCarthy said. "We cannot allow this to happen before our very eyes."
• Trump has not won the election, despite claiming so himself during a speech at the White House earlier in the day and despite being behind Vice President Joe Biden in electoral votes.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy echoed President Donald Trump's false claim that he won the election during a Fox News appearance Thursday. No presidential winner has been declared.

"President Trump won this election, so everyone who's listening, do not be quiet," McCarthy said. "We cannot allow this to happen before our very eyes."

Trump has not won the election, despite claiming so himself during a speech at the White House earlier in the day and despite being behind Joe Biden in electoral votes and with hundreds of thousands of ballots that have not yet been processed.

McCarthy appeared on Laura Ingraham's show, where he recited baseless claims about fraudulent voting activity. Ingraham also recited some of those claims, urging members of Congress to speak out.

The voters are "watching how the Republican leadership handles this," Ingraham said. "And I didn't like the silence I was hearing from people until tonight."

McCarthy responded by saying House Republicans are "not standing back."

"Republicans will not back down. We will not wait for four years from now to change this," he said. "We're going to fight this now."

After the show aired, McCarthy tweeted a clip of his false comment claiming Trump won the election, prompting Twitter to attach a fact check label to it that says official sources had not yet called the race.

Unlike McCarthy, a series of GOP lawmakers condemned Trump and called for calm and for votes to be counted.

"We want every vote counted, yes every legal vote (of course)," Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted. "But, if you have legit concerns about fraud present EVIDENCE and take it to court. STOP Spreading debunked misinformation."

"America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement. "No election or person is more important than our Democracy."