Ariz., Wis. and Ga. confirm Biden win
How does that triple dose of defeat taste, Mr. President?
Donald Trump suffered backto-back blows in his sputtering bid to subvert the 2020 election on Monday as Republican and Democratic officials affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s victories in the crucial swing states of Arizona, Wisconsin and Georgia.
In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich, both Republicans, joined Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs for a ceremony to certify Biden’s narrow win in the Southwestern state.
“We do elections well here in Arizona. The system is strong,” Ducey said at the state capitol in Phoenix.
Biden — who won the Nov. 3 election by a 306-232 Electoral College margin over Trump — clinched Arizona by 10,457 votes, or 0.3% out of 3.4 million ballots cast, according to the certified results.
He’s just the second Democratic presidential candidate in 70 years to win the traditionally deep-red state.
Later in the day, Wisconsin’s Elections Commission followed suit, certifying Biden’s win in the Badger State after a recount bankrolled by the Trump campaign only added to the Democratic candidate’s lead.
According to the certified results, Biden won Wisconsin by about 20,700 votes.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a statement that the recount confirmed no fraud occurred and slammed Trump’s campaign for apparently seeking to invalidate only votes in the state’s two predominantly Black counties.
“I have every confidence that this disgraceful Jim Crow strategy for mass disenfranchisement of voters will fail,” said Kaul, a Democrat.
In Georgia, meanwhile, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said his office has not found any evidence of widespread voter fraud or irregularities despite Trump’s repeated accusations to the contrary.
Raffensperger said his office continues to investigate about 250 cases of potential illegal voting and violations of state election law.
However, he noted that Biden’s victory in Georgia — which was certified on Nov. 20 — won’t be impacted, as the Democrat won the state by a 12,670-ballot margin over Trump.
Trump — whose campaign has not provided any evidence for the outlandish claim that “socialists” rigged the election for Biden — was not pleased with Raffensperger’s latest pushback.
“Why won’t Governor @BrianKempGA, the hapless Governor of Georgia, use his emergency powers, which can be easily done, to overrule his obstinate Secretary of State,” Trump tweeted from the White House. “So simple, and so easy to do. Georgia Republicans are angry, all Republicans are angry. Get it done!”
Kemp, a staunch conservative who was endorsed by Trump in 2018, has refused to override Raffensperger’s certification of the results, citing a lack of evidence of fraud.