Biden slams ‘ irresponsible’ Trump fight
Democrat Joe Biden on Thursday accused US President Donald Trump of damaging democracy, as the incumbent and his allies are taking more steps to reverse the results of the 2020 election.
Trump was scheduled to meet with the Republican leaders of the Michigan state legislature on Friday at the White House.
Meanwhile, Biden was scheduled to meet with the Democratic leaders in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, after spending most of this past week huddled with advisers as he plans his administration.
The Trump campaign’s latest strategy, as described by three people familiar with the plan, is to convince Republican- controlled legislatures in battleground states that Biden won, such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, to undermine the election results and deliver those states to the Republican president’s corner.
Trump’s attempts to reverse the outcome via lawsuits and recounts have met with little success. A hand recount of Georgia’s roughly 5 million votes wrapped up on Thursday, affirming Biden’s victory there.
According to US major media outlets, Biden has secured 306 votes to Trump’s 232 in the state- by- state Electoral College that determines the winner. Each state’s electoral votes, which are largely based on population, are typically awarded to the winner of the state’s popular vote, which are cast in December in what is usually a formality.
A senior Trump campaign official said the idea is to sow doubt about the results in certain states while pressing Republican lawmakers to intervene by appointing their own Trump- supporting electors.
New appointments
Biden called Trump’s attempts “totally irresponsible” on Thursday, though he has expressed little concern they will succeed in preventing him from taking office on Jan 20.
Biden spent the week putting together his team. His incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain, said on Thursday that Biden was scheduled to appoint more White House officials on Friday. Biden said on Thursday he has selected a treasury secretary and could announce his pick as soon as this coming week.
Despite the setbacks, the Trump campaign has not abandoned its efforts to overturn the results.
On Thursday, Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani held a news conference to allege a widespread election conspiracy involving multiple states and suspect voting machines. But election officials across the country have said repeatedly there was no widespread fraud.
Giuliani cited a few sworn affidavits that he said showed a vast Democratic conspiracy, but added that he could not reveal much of the evidence.
He also referenced Dominion Voting Systems machines, whose software he claimed “deleted” votes for Trump and “switched” them to Biden.
“When I went to bed on election night, he ( Trump) was ahead in all those states. … How is it they all turned around?” he asked.
Dominion is a privately owned company headquartered in Toronto that supplies voting equipment to 28 US states.
“No credible reports or evidence of any software issues exist,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.