COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine took a different tone on the outcome of the election Thursday morning compared to earlier this week. 

"Look, I think that we need to consider the former vice president as the president-elect. Biden is the president-elect," DeWine said on CNN. 

It's a small twist on his previous statement. When Joe Biden was projected as the winner, DeWine said "I congratulate Biden," but then added President Donald Trump has every right to present evidence in court if there's election fraud. 

DeWine is one of the very few state Republicans to acknowledge Biden's apparent victory.

Instead, some of them are backing the president's claims of voter fraud in the U.S., which hasn't been proven. 

"We tried to warn you," wrote Rep. Jim Jordan in a tweet. "The Democrats knew what they were doing and ignored us." 

Jordan was referencing mail-in voting — something Trump has spoken out against for the past few months.

Trump has consistently claimed the election was rigged by poll workers burning ballots or accepting "unsolicited ballots," which there is no evidence that backs up those statements. 

However, there's no such thing as an "unsolicited ballot." Many states routinely send ballots to all registered voters so they can choose to vote through the mail or in person. By registering to vote, people are effectively requesting a ballot, so it's not unsolicited. 

Futhermore, many elections officials have come out saying they haven't found any evidence of voter fraud. 

“There’s a great human capacity for inventing things that aren’t true about elections,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to the New York Times. “The conspiracy theories and rumors and all those things run rampant. For some reason, elections breed that type of mythology.”

Only a handful of of Republicans have acknowledged Biden's victory, a small but growing group that includes:

  • Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT)
  • Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
  • Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)
  • Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
  • Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX)
  • Gov. Charlie Baker (R-MA)
  • Gov. Phil Scott (R-VT), who has publicly stated that he voted for Biden
  • Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD)
  • Gov.-elect Spencer Cox (R-UT)
  • Former presidential candidate Jeb Bush
  • Cindy McCain
  • Former President George W. Bush