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Donald Trump called Georgia election officials on Saturday to try to persuade him to “find” enough votes to reverse the electoral defeat, the Washington Post reports.
Georgia’s top election official, Republican Brad Raffensperger, has repeatedly defended the vote after the presidential election. President Donald Trump is still trying to get the state to re-examine the votes. Photo: Brynn Anderson / AP / NTB
The newspaper obtained access to a recording of the hour-long telephone conversation between Trump and the state’s top election official, Republican Brad Raffensperger.
According to the newspaper, Trump tried to flatter Raffensperger, urged him to take action, and also hinted at threats of consequences if Raffensperger refused to help him “find” more votes for Trump.
– Listens. All I want is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state, Trump told Raffensperger in the phone call.
– Impossible that I lost
Raffensperger, for his part, rejects the president’s claims and notes that Trump relies on conspiracy theories that have already been rejected by the electoral authorities.
– The challenge you have is that the information you are sitting on is incorrect, says Raffensperger in the phone conversation with Trump.
– It is completely impossible that he lost in Georgia. It’s not possible. We won with hundreds of thousands of votes, says Trump.
Three stories
Georgia performed a vote count three times, with Joe Biden winning the entire time. This did not sit well with Trump.
Just weeks ago, Trump retweeted a claim from an attorney who wrote that, among other things, Raffensperger will be jailed after declaring Biden the winner.
Biden won the Georgia election by a margin of 12,779 votes. Previously, the state was considered a safe republican state.
He spoke of the Senate election
A major re-election in two Senate seats in Georgia will take place Tuesday, and the outcome will determine whether Republicans retain their majority in the Senate.
In the phone conversation with Raffensperger, Trump also said that if he does nothing before Tuesday, it will put the political future of the two Republican senators at stake.
Trump still believes he is the rightful winner of the presidential election in early November. The Electoral College has formally elected Biden president, and he will be installed later this month.
Trump’s repeated allegations of widespread election fraud have been rejected by the United States Attorney General, the country’s National Election Commission, foreign election observers and state authorities. Trump has not provided proof of the allegations.
