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Donald Trump’s flirtation with declaring martial law in the battlefield states and appointing a conspiracy theorist as special counsel to aid in his attempt to reverse Joe Biden’s defeat are “really sad” and ” nuts, “Mitt Romney said Sunday.
“He leaves Washington with a whole host of conspiracy theories and things that are so crazy and outlandish that people shake their heads wondering what happened to this man,” said the Republican senator from Utah.
Joe Biden won the November 3 election by 306-232 in the electoral college and by more than 7 million votes in the popular vote. Nonetheless, Trump is entertaining outlandish plans to stay in office, prompted by allies like former national security adviser Michael Flynn, whom Trump forgave for lying to the FBI, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney.
During a meeting Friday at the White House first reported by the New York Times, Trump discussed security clearance for Sidney Powell, a conspiracy attorney who was excluded from Trump’s campaign legal team.
It’s unclear whether Trump will actually try to install Powell as special counsel, a position designated by the U.S. attorney general, not the president. Numerous Republicans, from outgoing Attorney General William Barr to governors and state officials, have repeatedly said that there is no evidence of the massive voter fraud that Trump alleges without foundation.
“It’s not going to happen,” Romney told CNN. “That is not going anywhere. And I understand that the president is trying to find some way to get a different result than the American people did, but it is really sad in many ways and shameful.
“Because the president could be writing the last chapter of this administration right now, with a victory lap over the [Covid-19] vaccine. After all, you aggressively lobbied to develop and distribute the vaccine – that’s happening in a quick period of time. I could go out and defend this extraordinary success.
“Instead … this last chapter suggests why it will be known.”
The Trump campaign and its allies have filed around 50 lawsuits alleging electoral fraud; almost all have been dismissed. Trump has lost to judges from both parties, including some he appointed, and some of the loudest reprimands have come from conservative Republicans. The supreme court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority and three Trump appointees, has refused to accept cases.
Trump has been fuming and peppering allies for options. During Friday’s meeting, Giuliani lobbied Trump to take over the voting machines. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made it clear that it had no authority to do so. It’s unclear what such a move could accomplish.
Barr told the Associated Press this month that the Justice Department and DHS had investigated claims that the voting machines “were essentially programmed to skew the election results … and so far, we have seen nothing to corroborate. that”. Paper ballots have been used to verify the results, including in Georgia, which conducted two audits of its vote count, confirming Biden’s victory.
Flynn went even further, suggesting that Trump could impose martial law and use the military to rerun the election. Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and White House attorney Pat Cipollone voiced their objections, people familiar with the meeting told the media. Trump, who spent much of Saturday tweeting and retweeting allegations of election fraud, responded on Twitter.
“Martial law = fake news”, wrote. “Just more malicious reports!”
Trump’s grip on the Republican party remains secure, suggesting that members of Congress will file objections to the electoral college results on January 6. Such objections will have political ends and, in all probability, will not succeed in annulling the election. Democrats hold the House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he will remove objections in the Senate.
On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Romney, who fared better at the polls in his 2012 loss to Barack Obama than Trump in 2016 and 2020, was asked if his party could ever escape Trump’s control. .
“I think the Republican party has changed quite dramatically,” he said. “And by that, I mean that people who consider themselves Republicans and voted for President Trump, I think it’s a different cohort than the cohort who voted for me.
“… Look at those who are thinking of showing up in 2024, [they are] trying to see who can look the most like President Trump. And that suggests that the party does not want to take a different direction. “
Josh Hawley of Missouri, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ted Cruz of Texas are among the senators likely to run to succeed Trump in the White House, and therefore likely to oppose the electoral college results.
“I don’t think anybody who is thinking about running in 2024 has the kind of flair and flair that President Trump has,” Romney said. “He has a unique and capable politician… But I think the direction you are looking at is the one he established himself.
“I would like to see a different version of the Republican party. But my side is very small these days … I think we recognize that character really counts. “
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