Biden finally set to see off Trumped-up vote fraud claims
JOE Biden’s election as president of the US is expected to be confirmed beyond all challenge and doubt this week.
But at least 12 Republican senators say they will follow their leader Donald Trump and refuse to accept the election result in a confirmation hearing in Congress on Wednesday.
The Senate session to certify Mr Biden’s win will be overseen by vicepresident Mike Pence, who yesterday said he ‘welcomes the efforts’ of his fellow Republican politicians to prove the election was fraudulent.
Although their bid to overturn the result on Wednesday has virtually no chance of success – they would need another 39 senators to join their cause – they may even be inadvertently helping the Democrats.
This is due to a separate run-off vote to select Georgia’s two senators, which takes place tomorrow.
No one secured the requisite majority for either of the seats in November, and there are indications that swing voters in the re-run have been turned off by the repeated refusal of Mr Trump and his supporters to accept he lost.
If the Democrats can win both Senate seats tomorrow, then the Republicans will lose their 52-48 majority in the chamber.
Last night details emerged of a rambling one-hour phone call on Saturday in which Mr Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to ‘find’ enough votes to overturn his defeat in the state.
Mr Raffensperger batted away the call, according to a recording obtained by the Washington Post.