Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) refused to say during testimony before the Senate on Thursday whether President Biden was the “duly elected and lawfully serving” president of the United States.

During a Senate committee hearing, the Republican attorney general testified against the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. He said in a statement that he had concerns about her views on the criminal justice system.

In an exchange with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) during his testimony, however, Marshall refused to specifically affirm whether Biden was “duly elected and lawfully serving” the president of the United States. 

“Is Joseph R. Biden of Delaware the duly elected and lawfully serving president of the United States of America?” Whitehouse asked Marshall.

“He is the president of this country,” Marshall answered.

Whitehouse repeated the question, to which Marshall replied, “He is the president of our country.”

“Are you answering that omitting the language ‘duly elected and lawfully serving’ purposefully?” Whitehouse pressed Marshall.

“I’m answering the question. He is the president of the United States,” Marshall replied again.

Marshall remained unmoved after Whitehouse pressed him over whether he thought Biden was legally elected as president, giving Whitehouse the same reply.

The Hill has reached out to Marshall’s office for comment. 

The questions from Whitehouse come as former President Trump and a number of Republicans have baselessly claimed that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent despite high-profile audits in battleground states that have revealed no significant irregularities.