By Nikki Schwab, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Published: 18:30 EDT, 15 September 2022 | Updated: 18:36 EDT, 15 September 2022

New Hampshire's Republican Senate hopeful Donald Bolduc flip-flopped and said President Joe Biden is the 'legitimate president' and the 'election was not stolen' 24 hours after winning his tight GOP primary. 

Bolduc, a retired United States brigadier general, ran in the Granite State primary as a 2020 election denier aligned with former President Donald Trump, though the ex-president never endorsed him. 

In Tuesday's primary, he won the Republican primary by less than 2,000 votes over Chuck Morse, the more mainstream candidate who's the president of the New Hampshire state Senate - and will take on Democratic incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan in the fall.

Appearing on Fox News Channel's America's Newsroom with Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer Thursday, Bolduc was asked if he continued to stand by a letter he signed alongside 120 other generals saying that Trump won the 2020 election. 

New Hampshire's Republican Senate hopeful Donald Bolduc flip-flopped and said President Joe Biden is the 'legitimate president' and the 'election was not stolen' 24 hours after winning his tight GOP primary

'So, we live and we learn right?' he answered. 

Bolduc said he had 'done a lot of research on this.' 

'And I have come to the conclusion - and I want to be definitive on this - the election was not stolen,' he said. 'Was there fraud? Yes. Is that a concern to Granite Staters all over the state? Yes, there is. Is there a responsibility for public servants in elected positions to ensure that our citizens have faith in their voting system? Yes.'

'But elections have consequences,' he continued. 

'And, unfortunately, President Biden is the legitimate president of this country,' the Senate hopeful said. 

Bolduc segued into attack mode, adding, 'And he is ruining it, along with Maggie Hassan.' 

Hassan's campaign called the about-face laughable. 

'Don Bolduc has spent the entire campaign touting the Big Lie, and he can't hide from that record. He has even said that he supports overturning the results of the 2024 election if it doesn't go his way,' Hassan's campaign spokesperson Kevin Donohoe said in a statement.  

'A word salad on Fox will not erase his record of election denial,' Donohoe added. 

Republicans had hoped New Hampshire would be a Senate seat they flipped in November. 

The GOP needs only one Senate seat turned over to gain control of the upper chamber if they retain all of the current real estate. 

But with Bolduc's win, that could be more challenging. 

Bolduc's made a number of eyebrow-raising statements that Democrats can use in attack ads going into the general election - such as coronavirus vaccines include microchips. 

The state's three-term Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who comes from a political dynasty in the state, threw his weight behind Morse days before the primary, having criticized Bolduc previously.

'He's not a serious candidate, he's really not, and if he were the GOP nominee I have no doubt we would have a much harder time,' Sununu said in August. 'He's kind of a conspiracy theory-type candidate,' the governor added.  

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Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd

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