San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
PRESIDENT VOWS TO PRESS ON WITH FIGHT
Thousands rally in D.C. in support of Trump’s bid to overturn vote results
President Donald Trump on Saturday amplified his unfounded claims and falsehoods about Joe Biden’s victory, lashed out at his attorney general and GOP governors he deemed unfaithful to him, and vowed to continue challenging the election results, despite the Supreme Court dealing a blow to his legal efforts to overturn the vote.
“I WON THE ELECTION IN A LANDSLIDE, but remember, I only think in terms of legal votes, not all of the fake voters and fraud that miraculously floated in from everywhere! What a disgrace!,” Trump tweeted shortly after 8 a.m., one in a series of morning posts that Twitter labeled as disputed.
Many of Trump’s Republican allies in Congress were unswayed by the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the challenge brought by the Texas attorney general that asked the justices to invalidate millions of ballots cast in four battleground states — Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia — and toss out Biden’s win. The Congress members accused the Supreme Court of dodging or lacking courage.
Meanwhile Trump’s most ardent supporters took to online messaging boards with ominous vows to fight on and suggestions that Trump states secede.
As they have several times since the election, thousands of Trump supporters — including members of the Proud Boys, the far-right, male-only, extremist group that Trump struggled to denounce during a presidential debate with Biden — gathered Saturday at sites across Washington, with high-profile names like Roger Stone and retired Gen. Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser recently pardoned by Trump, rallying the crowd.
“Supreme Court’s decision, well, you know, don’t get bent out of shape because there are still avenues that are being ... avenues to approach and we are attacking the wall,” Flynn said to flag-waving protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court.
But exactly what those “avenues” are was not spelled out. Electors will meet in each state on Monday to cast their votes. Biden won enough states to give him 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232, and he leads the national popular vote by more than 7 million.
Trump continues to refuse to concede, instead continuing to claim that widespread voter fraud rigged the election. But there has been no evidence presented of widespread fraud in the election, and last week Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department has found no evidence that would overturn Biden’s victory. Courts at every level have rejected dozens of lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign and his allies, citing this lack of evidence.
The president has one last stand — the Jan. 6 vote in a joint session of Congress to count the electoral votes. Already at least one Republican lawmaker, Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, has said he’ll challenge the electoral vote that day. If just one U.S. senator joins him, the Electoral Count Act of 1877 will force every member of Congress to vote on whether to accept the results in the states where Republicans decry voter fraud.
It’s unclear whether Brooks will find significant support for the move.