Former Trump cybersecurity official says GOP leaders have ‘lost control’ of voter base: ‘This is a death spiral’

Christopher Krebs, the first director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, who was fired by former President Trump for refuting claims of a stolen election, said on Sunday that Republican leaders have “lost control” of the party’s voter base.

On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan asked Krebs whether he believes Trump is attempting to undermined future elections, noting that the former president said during a recent rally that he is seeking to completely overhaul the U.S. election system.

“Without question. It’s happening at four different levels, both state legislatures and state elected officials, some of the folks running for secretary of state in Arizona and Georgia, but we’re also seeing [it] in the U.S. Congress,” said Krebs.

“Without question,” there is an effort to undermine US elections, former @CISAgov director @C_C_Krebs tells @margbrennan, pointing to language from lawmakers and efforts from state leaders that suggest elections are illegitimate. pic.twitter.com/MBBUStyldi

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 10, 2021

.@C_C_Krebs, a self-described lifelong republican, tells @margbrennan GOP is “afraid to speak up because they’re afraid the former president is going to try to primary them.”

Adds, “this is a death spiral. They’ve lost control and they don’t have the ability to rein it back in.” pic.twitter.com/APqsxohnFu

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 10, 2021

“The minority whip was on Fox News this morning with Chris Wallace, and he was talking about how the election was effectively stolen, and he will not admit that [President] Biden won,” Krebs added, referring to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who refused to say whether he believed the 2020 election was stolen.

Brennan noted that was an extraordinary remark for Krebs, a lifelong Republican, to make and asked how these claims continue to occur.

“They’re afraid to speak up because they’re afraid the former president is going to try to primary them, and then the other piece is that they’ve activated and lost control of their voting base, the people that are going to put them in power,” Krebs said.

“It’s gotten out of control, so, again, this is a death spiral. They’ve lost control, and they don’t have the ability to rein it back in,” Krebs added.