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Chris Christie (right) is a longtime ally of President Trump
A prominent ally of Donald Trump has urged the president of the United States to abandon his efforts to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden in the last presidential election.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie described President Trump’s legal team as a “national disgrace.”
Trump refuses to admit defeat in the election and has made unsubstantiated allegations of widespread electoral fraud.
Many Republicans have supported his legal efforts, but a small but growing number of them have defected.
On Saturday, Trump was hit hard in Pennsylvania after a judge rejected a Trump campaign lawsuit that sought to nullify millions of mail-in ballots in the state.
In a scathing ruling, Judge Matthew Bran said his court had been presented with “baseless vague legal arguments and charges based on speculation.”
The measure paves the way for the state to ratify Biden’s victory later Monday. The Democratic president-elect leads by more than 80,000 votes.
Biden is expected to defeat President Trump by 306 votes to 232 in the US Electoral College, which determines who becomes president, a number much higher than the 270 he needs to win.
What did Chris Christie say?
Speaking to ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Christie said: “Frankly, the behavior of the president’s legal team was a national disgrace.”
He said the Trump campaign has often discussed voter fraud “outside of the courtroom, but when they walk into the courtroom, they are not alleging or discussing fraud.”
“I was a supporter of the president. He voted for him twice. But elections have consequences, and we cannot continue to act as if what happened here had not happened,” he added.
Christie was the first governor to endorse Trump as a presidential candidate in 2016. He also helped prepare the US president for his debates with Biden earlier this year.
Especially critical of Sydney Powell, a lawyer who appeared with Trump’s legal team at a press conference Thursday, and who said without providing evidence that electronic voting systems had diverted millions of ballots to Biden, and who also won thanks to the “communist money”.
On Sunday, however, the Trump campaign issued a statement distancing itself from Powell, saying she was “practicing law alone” and “was not a member of Trump’s legal team.”
A tweet from President Trump earlier this month explicitly named Powell as part of the team.
On Sunday, other Republicans urged President Trump to resign.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan told CNN on Sunday that the Trump campaign’s ongoing effort to overturn the election results “is beginning to look like a banana republic.”
Image posted, Reuters
Joe Biden continues the transition despite Trump’s refusal to officially admit defeat.
Hogan said in a Twitter post that Trump should “stop playing golf and give up.”
Michigan House of Representatives Fred Upton told CNN that voters in his state, who are from critical states, “spoke their word” in electing Biden, while Senator Kevin Kramer of North Dakota He said in an interview with NB CNN it was time to start a transition period, although he did not accept Biden’s victory.
What is Biden’s team doing?
President Trump’s refusal to admit defeat complicated the process that generally follows US elections.
Ron Klein, chosen by the president-elect as White House chief of staff, said Joe Biden would announce his first cabinet appointments Tuesday.
Speaking to ABC on Sunday, Klein called on the Trump administration to facilitate the transition.
“A record number of Americans rejected the Trump presidency, and since then Donald Trump has rejected democracy,” he said.
It revealed that Biden’s campaign is preparing for a “small-scale” inauguration ceremony on January 20 due to the worsening coronavirus epidemic.
