DALTON, Georgia (AP) – With growing desperation, Donald Trump declared on Monday night that he would “fight like hell” to hold the presidency and called on Republican lawmakers to reverse his election defeat for Joe Biden when they meet this week to confirm the electoral college vote.
Electoral voters won over by President-elect Biden “are not going to take this White House!” he shouted as supporters applauded an outdoor rally in Georgia. Trump’s announced purpose for the trip was to increase Republican Senate candidates in the second round of Tuesday’s election, but he spent much of his speech bitterly complaining about his electoral defeat – which he insists he won “by far”.
Earlier in Washington, he pressured Republican lawmakers to formally object on Wednesday at a joint session of Congress that will confirm Biden’s victory at the Electoral College, itself a confirmation of Biden’s national victory on November 3.
Although he received nothing but applause on Monday night, Trump’s attempt to overthrow the presidential election i s divide the Republican Party. Some Republican Party lawmakers who support him are running ahead, despite a wave of condemnation from current and former party officials warning that the effort is undermining Americans’ faith in democracy. All 10 ex-defense secretaries alive wrote in an article that “the time to question the results has passed”.
It is unclear to what extent Republican Party leaders in Congress will be able to control Wednesday’s joint session, which could drag on into the night, although the challenges for the election are likely to fail. Trump himself is drawing crowds to a rally on Wednesday near the White House.
Vice President Mike Pence, who is under pressure to disclose the results to Trump, will be closely watched as he presides over a ceremonial role at Wednesday’s joint session.
“I promise you this: on Wednesday, we will have our day in Congress,” said Pence as he campaigned in Georgia ahead of Tuesday’s second round of elections that will determine Senate control.
Trump said in Georgia: “I hope that our great vice president appears for us. He’s a great guy. Of course, if he doesn’t pass, I won’t like him that much. “He added,” No, Mike is a nice guy. “
One of Georgia’s Republicans in Tuesday’s runoff – Senator Kelly Loeffler, who faces Democrat Raphael Warnock – told the crowd that he will join the senators who formally contest Biden’s victory. The other Republican seeking re-election, David Perdue, who runs against Democrat Jon Ossoff, will not be able to vote.
Trump has repeatedly repeated his allegations of electoral fraud, which have been rejected by election officials – both Republicans and Democrats in one state after another – and courts up to the United States Supreme Court. His former attorney general, William Barr, also said there was no evidence of fraud that could change the outcome of the election.
The Congressional effort to keep Trump in office is being led by the Sens. Josh Hawley from Missouri and Ted Cruz from Texas, along with ordinary members of the House, some on the sidelines of the party.
“I just spoke to @realDonaldTrump,” tweeted newly elected MP Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who is aligned with a conspiracy group that supports Trump.
“He wants you to call your representatives and senators TODAY, ALL DAY!” she tweeted Monday. “Don’t let Republicans be Surrender Caucus!” She later joined the president in Air Force One when he traveled to Georgia.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell tried to stop his party from getting involved in this battle, which could help define the Republican Party in the post-Trump era. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, a Trump ally, declined to say much about it publicly.
Hawley and Cruz are potential candidates for the presidency in 2024, vying for the base of Trump supporters.
Biden, speaking at a drive-in rally in Atlanta, said that Trump “spends more time complaining and complaining” than working to resolve the coronavirus pandemic. He added dismissively, “I don’t know why he still wants the job – he doesn’t want to do the job.”
During Monday, more Republican Party officials, current and former, censored the effort to overturn the election.
Former Senator John Danforth of Missouri said in a forceful statement: “To give credence to Trump’s false claim that the election was stolen is a highly destructive attack.” He said: “It is the opposite of conservative; it is radical. “
Two current Republican senators, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mike Lee of Utah, have joined the growing number now opposing the challenge of lawmakers.
Portman said in a statement, “I cannot support that Congress frustrates voters’ will.”
At Dalton’s rally, Trump noted that he was “a little angry” at Lee, but expressed hope that the senator would change his mind. “We need your vote,” said Trump.
The United States Chamber of Commerce, the gigantic lobbying and virtual personification organization of the commercial establishment, said that contesting the electoral vote “undermines our democracy and the rule of law and will only result in further division in our country.”
So far, Trump has won the support of a dozen Republican senators and up to 100 House Republicans to challenge Biden’s decision. 306-232 Victory of the Electoral College.
With Biden scheduled to open on January 20, Trump is stepping up efforts to avoid the traditional transfer of power. In a call released on Sunday, he can be heard pressuring Georgia officials to “find” him more votes in the November 3 elections that he lost in that state.
The challenge for the presidential election is on a scale never seen since the aftermath of the Civil War, although the typically routine process of confirming the votes of the Electoral College has been met by brief objections before. In 2017, several House Democrats contested Trump’s victory, but Biden, who was then president as vice president, quickly dismissed them to assert Trump’s victory.
States hold their own elections, and Congress is reluctant to interfere.
“The 2020 election is over,” said a statement on Sunday from a bipartisan group of 10 senators, including Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah.
A number of Republican officials – including Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland; Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the Republican Party’s third leader in the House; and former mayor Paul Ryan – criticized the Republican Party’s efforts to overturn the election.
Hawley defended his actions in a long weekend email to colleagues, saying his Missouri voters were “loud and clear” in insisting that Trump’s defeat by Biden was unfair.
The Cruz coalition of 11 Republican senators promises to reject Electoral College counts, unless Congress creates a commission to immediately conduct an audit of election results. Congress is unlikely to agree with that.
The group, which has shown no evidence of electoral problems, includes Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
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Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Steve LeBlanc in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Jim Salter in O’Fallon, Missouri, Alan Fram in Washington and Tali Arbel of the technology team contributed.