officials to violate Michigan law by rejecting the popular vote and selecting a Trump slate of electors; in furtherance of this effort, he had them fly to Washington, D.C., for a White House meeting.[1]
Trump applied particularly intense pressure to Georgia officials. On November 11, while Georgia’s vote count was in progress, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger publicly stated that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud and that ballots were being accurately counted.[2] President Trump then tweeted about Raffensperger seventeen times between November 11 and the date on which Georgia finally certified its election results. On Thanksgiving Day, he declared Raffensperger an “enemy of the people” for insisting upon the integrity of Georgia’s election.[3] Reflecting an ominous pattern that would recur many times over the weeks that followed, President Trump’s attacks on Raffensperger sparked threats of death and violence; one such message warned that “the Raffenspergers should be put on trial for treason and face execution.”[4] Nonetheless, President Trump continued his assault on Raffensperger. President Trump’s attacks were so concerning that Gabriel Sterling, another Republican election official in Georgia, publicly warned: “Mr. President … Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone’s going to get hurt, someone’s going to get shot, someone’s going to get killed.”[5]
President Trump’s campaign to reverse the election results—and to keep himself in the White House—lasted through the days immediately preceding the assault on the Capitol. On
- ↑ Tom Hamburger et al., Trump Invites Michigan Republican Leaders To Meet Him At White House As He Escalates Attempts To Overturn Election Results, Wash. Post (Nov. 19, 2020).
- ↑ Tim Reid & Lisa Lambert, Republican Georgia Secretary of State Says No Sign of Widespread Fraud in Vote Count, Reuters (Nov. 11, 2020).
- ↑ Tim Kephart, Trump Calls Ga. Secretary of State “Enemy of the People”, CBS46 (Nov. 27, 2020).
- ↑ Jake Lahut, Georgia’s Republican Secretary Of State And His Wife Received Texts Telling Them They Deserve ‘To Face A Firing Squad’ As Trump Escalated His Attacks On Election Results, Business Insider (Nov. 19, 2020); Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter (Dec. 7, 2020, 7:50 PM).
- ↑ Stephen Fowler, ‘Someone’s Going To Get Killed’: Ga. Official Blasts GOP Silence On Election Threats, NPR (Dec. 1, 2020).
