Call after defeat
Report: Trump wanted to manipulate election workers in Michigan
December 22, 2023, 4:02 p.m
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In the presidential election, many Republican-dominated states and districts go to Democrats – including Wayne County. After the defeat, according to a newspaper report, Donald Trump personally contacted the election workers and wanted to exert influence.
According to a media report, former US President Donald Trump tried to prevent two election auditors in the US state of Michigan from confirming the results in their district after his defeat in November 2020. The Detroit News published transcripts of a phone call in which Trump tells the two Republican members of the Wayne County election audit committee that they would look bad if certified. “We cannot let these people take our country,” Trump added.
Also present on the phone call was the head of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Ronna McDaniel. According to the recordings, she instructed the two election auditors “not to sign.” “We’ll get you lawyers,” McDaniel continued. Trump also emphasized: “We will take care of it.”
According to the newspaper report, the phone call took place two weeks after the presidential election, in which Trump lost the state of Michigan to his challenger Joe Biden. About 18 percent of Michigan residents live in Wayne County, according to The Detroit News. In the 2020 presidential election, around 878,000 votes were cast there.
RNC leader McDaniel told The Detroit News that she had said “publicly and repeatedly” at the time “that there was ample evidence that warranted an investigation.” A Trump spokesman said the former president’s actions were part of his duty “to ensure the integrity of the elections, including the investigation of the manipulated and stolen 2020 presidential election.”
Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Trump, who wants to run for the Republicans again in the 2024 presidential election, refused to acknowledge his defeat and made widely refuted allegations of massive voter fraud. The 77-year-old has now been charged twice for his attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election and thereby stay in power.