Analysis: With call, Trump shows no limit to his Power Grab
ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to overturn the 2020 election results — laid out in stark detail in an hour long weekend phone call with a Georgia Election official — are demonstrating his unrestrained Determination to Maintain a Grip on Power no Matter the Consequences for the Nation’s Democratic Traditions.
(1 of 1) President Donald Trump walks out of the Oval Office to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then on to Dalton, Ga. for a rally.
January 05, 2021
Trump, in a Saturday phone call, pressed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state’s presidential election. The president repeatedly cited disproven claims of fraud and raised the prospect of a “criminal offense” if officials did not change the vote count, according to a recording of the conversation.
Trump has ventured into uncharted and dangerous territory since his Nov. 3 defeat, becoming the first president who lost an election to try to hang onto his office by rejecting the will of the voters and casting aside results of the Electoral College enshrined in the Constitution.
Trump's refusal to concede, undermining the democratic tradition of a peaceful transfer of power and hindering the transition to a Biden administration, is particularly risky for the nation when it is grappling with a surging pandemic that has killed more than 350,000 Americans. Paying little heed to the virus in recent weeks, the president has largely abdicated day-to-day governing to instead focus on his efforts to cling to power.
On the phone call, Trump peddled anew conspiracy theories, disinformation and outright lies, insisting that he won Georgia despite multiple recounts that show the contrary. He repeatedly argued that Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, could change the certified results.
“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said. “Because we won the state.” Biden won Georgia by 11,779 votes. The call showcased Trump’s evolution since Nov. 3. At first, he privately accepted that he had been beaten even as he publicly protested, hoping to show his loyal supporters that he was still fighting while eyeing his own future, politically and financially.
But as the weeks have gone on, Trump has embraced the narrative that his victory was stolen. His shrinking inner circle is now largely populated by those peddling conspiracy theories. The president lives in a media echo chamber made up of conservative television and social media voices amplifying his claims of fraud.
Asked if he felt like the president was pressuring him to do something illegal, Raffensperger told The Associated Press on Monday: “I think he was looking for any kind of advantage he could get, and I just don’t see how he’s going to get it.”
Raffensperger added that Georgia’s presidential votes were counted three times — first right after the election, then in an audit that hand tallied the results and finally in a machine recount at Trump’s request.
“If they support a challenge of the electors for Georgia, they’re wrong, dead wrong,” Raffensperger said. Members of Congress will have to make a decision about the results in the other states, he added, “but in Georgia, we did get it right. I’m not happy with the result, as a Republican, but it is the right result based on the numbers that we saw cast.”
Trump’s renewed intervention and his persistent and unfounded claims of fraud come nearly two weeks before he leaves office and in the leadup to twin runoff elections in Georgia on Tuesday that will determine political control of the U.S. Senate.
It also added intrigue ahead of Trump’s rally in Georgia on Monday night — likely the last of his term — in which he stumped for the two Republican candidates. In a rage after the Raffensperger call, Trump floated the idea of pulling out of the rally, which could been devastating to GOP chances in what are expected to be a pair of razor-thin races.
But Trump was persuaded to go ahead with the rally as a stage from which to reiterate his claims of election fraud and to present, as he tweeted Monday, the “real numbers” from the race. Republicans worried that Trump might focus on himself and depress turnout by undermining faith in the runoff elections and not promoting the two GOP candidates.
In the end, Trump split his time rehashing many of the same debunked grievances he made days earlier in the Raffensperger call, while also urging his supporters to swamp the polls on behalf of Sen. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in races he said would determine the “fate of our country.”
Trump also signaled he had no intention of dropping his election challenges even after Wednesday's counting of the electoral votes, urging the crowd to watch for new revelations over the next “couple weeks” and vowing: “They’re not taking this White House. We’re going to fight like hell, I’ll tell you right now."
Raffensperger reiterated his frustration with disinformation that has proliferated since the election, much of it emanating from the Oval Office. He expressed fears that Trump’s baseless claims would not only undermine the democratic process but could hurt Republicans’ chances. People wonder about the best way to vote after false information has caused them to distrust both absentee ballots and the state’s voting machines, he said.
“That is not a good message for you to ever get out to your base,” he said. Egged on by Trump, a dozen Republican senators have announced that they would support up to 100 House colleagues in challenging the Electoral College certification process on Wednesday. Wary of Trump’s Twitter account and hold over their party’s base, many other Republicans were slow to speak out, allowing the president to sow doubt for weeks and undermine Biden’s legitimacy with much of the population.
Among those who spoke out Monday, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a member of the GOP House leadership team, deemed the president's call “deeply troubling.” GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said the call was “a new low in this whole futile and sorry episode.” He commended election officials “who have discharged their duties with integrity over the past two months while weathering relentless pressure, disinformation, and attacks from the president and his campaign.”
Audio snippets of the conversation were first posted online by The Washington Post. The AP obtained the full audio of Trump’s conversation with Georgia officials from a person on the call. The AP has a policy of not amplifying disinformation and unproven allegations. It annotated a transcript of the call with fact check material.
Various election officials across the country and Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have said there was no widespread fraud in the election. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, battlegrounds crucial to Biden’s victory, have also vouched for the integrity of their state elections.
Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, which has three Trump-nominated justices.
EDITOR'S NOTE
Jonathan Lemire has covered the White House and politics for The Associated Press since 2013. Kate Brumback has reported from Atlanta for the AP since 2008.
Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers Jeff Amy in Atlanta, Kevin Freking in Dalton, Georgia, and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
Subjects
Government and politics, Political conventions, General elections, Misinformation People
Liz Cheney, David Perdue, Pat Toomey, William Barr Locations
United States, North America, Georgia, Atlanta Organisations
United States Senate, United States Congress, United States government, U.S. Republican Party
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Thousands cheer Trump at rally protesting election results
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several thousand protesters cheered President Donald Trump and his baseless claims of election fraud at a rally near the White House on Wednesday ahead of Congress' vote to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
(1 of 11) With the Washington Monument in the background, people attend a rally in support of President Donald Trump near the White House on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
(2 of 11) People wait to hear speakers Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally."
(3 of 11) A woman holds a cut out of President Donald Trump's face Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally."
(4 of 11) With the White House in the background, Pastor Paula White leads a prayer Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally."
(5 of 11) Joseph Baker of Cape May, N.J., cheers as he waits for speakers Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally."
(6 of 11) People attend a rally in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in support of President Donald Trump.
(7 of 11) With the White House in the background, people arrive to listen to speakers Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally."
(8 of 11) People hand out signs Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally."
(9 of 11) With the Washington Monument in the background, people wait to hear from speakers Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally."
(10 of 11) People wait to hear speakers Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the "Save America Rally."
(11 of 11) Trump supporters gather on the Washington Monument grounds in advance of a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, thousands of people have gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his baseless claims of election fraud.
January 06, 2021
“We will not let them silence your voices,” Trump told the protesters, who had lined up before sunrise to get a prime position to hear the president. The crowd cheered when he said, “We will stop the steal.” That's been the rallying cry of protests against the election results.
Lou Murray, a life insurance salesman from Boston, said he and many others still hoped Congress and Vice President Mike Pence would not certify the Electoral College. “I hope Vice President Pence has courage today, and I hope any politician who thinks he has a future shows courage to stand up and do what’s right,” Murray said.
Pence has no path for avoiding the certification of Biden as the next president. From the Ellipse south of the White House, the protesters planned to march to the Capitol before the vote. Trump said he would be with them.
At the Capitol, Tim Teller of West Sacramento, California, listened on his phone while Trump spoke. “I want to be able to tell my kids that I did everything I could,” he said. The crowd gathered at the Capitol chanted, “We want Trump.”
About an hour before Trump was set to speak, there were long, dense lines at security checkpoints near the White House. At the Lincoln Memorial, dozens of Trump supporters stood on the steps with large Trump flags.
Nirav Peterson, who flew in from Seattle to attend the rally, said there would be a groundswell of anger and activism if Trump doesn't serve another term and said Republicans who don’t back him should face primary challenges.
“People are angry. This isn’t going to go away,” Peterson said as she took video of the large crowd gathered beyond the steel barriers at the foot of the Washington Monument. “You have a huge, huge portion of the people who aren’t going to take it anymore.”
Like many others, Peterson was not wearing a mask. She said she opposes the shutdowns prompted by the pandemic and doesn’t believe anyone has died from COVID-19. More than 350,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S.
A number of prominent Trump supporters were expected to attend the protest events, which began Tuesday with a rally at Freedom Plaza near the White House. They include Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and longtime Trump ally Roger Stone, the recipient of a pardon by the president.
As temperatures dropped to the low 40s Tuesday night and a steady rain swept onto the streets, hundreds of protesters remained in Freedom Plaza. “I’m just here to support the president,” said David Wideman, a 45-year-old firefighter who traveled from Memphis, Tennessee. Wideman acknowledged he was “confused” by a string of losses from Trump's legal team in their attempt to overturn the results of the election and didn’t know what options Trump had left.
“I not sure what he can do at this point, but I want to hear what he has to say," Wideman said. Trump tweeted his support for the protesters: “Washington is being inundated with people who don’t want to see an election victory stolen by emboldened Radical Left Democrats. Our Country has had enough, they won’t take it anymore! We hear you (and love you) from the Oval Office."
In a Tuesday evening tweet, Trump called on Democrats and fellow Republicans to look at the “thousands of people pouring into D.C.” In another tweet, he warned that antifa, the umbrella term for leftist militant groups that Trump has said he wants to declare a terrorist organization, should stay out of Washington.
The rallies had local officials and law enforcement bracing for potential violent street clashes. Many businesses in downtown Washington boarded up their windows, fearful that the protest could devolve into the unrest seen in May and June when dozens of businesses were vandalized.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser called in National Guard troops to help bolster the city’s police force. She urged residents to stay away from downtown Washington and to avoid confrontations with anyone who is “looking for a fight.” But, she warned, “we will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents or cause destruction in our city.”
Police reported 12 protest-related arrests on Tuesday and Wednesday for a variety of offenses, including weapons charges, assault on a police officer, simple assault, possessing a stun gun and other violations.
Election officials from both political parties, governors in key battleground states and Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have said there was no widespread fraud in the election. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two challenges rejected by the Supreme Court.
A pro-Trump rally Dec. 12 ended in violence as hundreds of Trump supporters, wearing the signature black and yellow of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, sought out confrontations with a collective of local activists attempting to bar them from Black Lives Matter Plaza, an area near the White House. At least two local Black churches had Black Lives Matter banners torn down and set ablaze.
On Monday, police arrested the leader of the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 36, after he arrived in Washington before this week’s protests. Tarrio was accused of burning one of the Black Lives Matter banners in December and was found with two high-capacity firearm magazines, police said. A judge signed an order Tuesday banning Tarrio from entering the District of Columbia, with very limited exceptions related to his criminal case.
In addition to the National Guard, federal agents were on standby, in case they were quickly needed in the city this week. The federal Bureau of Prisons said about 100 “specially trained officers” were sent to the Justice Department headquarters to assist other security personnel but would remain “in a reserve capacity unless needed.”
Subjects
Government and politics, Electoral college, Elections, War and unrest People
William Barr, Joe Biden, Roger Stone, Donald Trump Locations
United States, North America, District of Columbia Organisations
United States Congress, United States government, Black Lives Matter
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