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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump pressured Georgia’s top election official to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in the southern state, according to excerpts from a recording of the hour-long call published by the Washington Post. on Sunday (January 3).
Saturday’s call was the latest move in Trump’s two-month effort to claim that his loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden in the Nov.3 election was the result of widespread voter fraud, a claim that has been widely rejected by the state and federal government. election officials, as well as multiple courts.
Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, came as some of Trump’s allies in the US Congress said they plan to oppose formal certification on Wednesday of Biden’s victory.
The former vice president won by a margin of 306-232 in the Electoral College state by state, and by more than 7 million votes in total.
The Washington Post said that during the call, Trump alternately complimented, pleaded with and threatened Raffensperger with vague criminal consequences in an attempt to undo his loss.
Raffensperger and his office’s attorney general rejected Trump’s claims at all times, telling the president that he relied on debunked conspiracy theories spread on social media about what a fair and accurate election was, according to audio excerpts and the newspaper account.
“The people of Georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry,” Trump said, according to an audio excerpt posted online by the Post. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”
“So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,” Trump said on the recording, insisting that there was “no way” that he lost status.
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The White House declined to comment. Raffensperger’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Biden’s transition office had no immediate comment.
The call came days before U.S. Senator Ted Cruz led several of Trump’s allies in Congress in a risky attempt to disrupt formal recognition of Biden’s victory.
Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia was the first by a Democratic presidential candidate in a generation and has raised hopes among Democrats that they could win a pair of U.S. Senate elections in the state on Tuesday, giving his party the control of Congress.
Even if Trump had won all 16 votes from the Georgia Electoral College, he would still have lost the White House to Biden, who will take office on January 20.
Before the Washington Post published its report on the call, Trump said on Twitter Sunday that he had spoken with Raffensperger on the phone about election fraud in Georgia.
“He didn’t want, or couldn’t, answer questions like the ‘ballot under the table’ scam, destruction of ballots, out-of-state ‘voters’, dead voters and more. You have no idea!” Trump tweeted.
Raffensperger responded on Twitter: “Respectfully President Trump: What you are saying is not true. The truth will come out.”
News of Saturday’s call drew immediate criticism from Congressional Democrats, including Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee.
“Trump’s contempt for democracy is exposed. Once again. Recorded,” Schiff wrote on Twitter. “Pressuring an election official to ‘find’ the votes so that he can win is potentially criminal, and another blatant abuse of power by a corrupt man who would be a despot, if we allow it. We will not.”
