A Republican leader of the Pennsylvania legislature said she would face extraordinary backlash if she did not support claims that there was fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
In speaking with The New York Times, Kim Ward, the Republican majority leader of the Pennsylvania Senate, said President Donald Trump personally called her and urged her to declare that there was fraud in her state resulting in a victory for former Vice President Joe Biden.
Despite Trump’s losses in Pennsylvania courts, including a case tied to the state that was rejected by the Supreme Court, Republicans in the state’s General Assembly signed a letter last week to overturn the will of the people by sending pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College.
“If I would say to you, ‘I don’t want to do it,’” Ward told the Times about signing the letter, “I’d get my house bombed tonight.”
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Supporters of the president targeted the home of Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson last week, surrounding her house and chanting conspiracy theories.
Republican election officials in Georgia have pleaded for the president to tone down his rhetoric regarding the unfounded claims of election fraud in their state.
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“It has all gone too far,” Georgia voting systems manager Gabriel Sterling said at a recent press conference. “It has to stop.”
“Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language,” he contended. “Senators, you have not condemned this language or these actions … Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence.”
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Republicans who part from the president’s fantastical theories about widespread voter fraud have been targeted by him online, as well as by his most rabid supporters.
Officials in Georgia and Arizona have been some of his primary targets, including Gov. Brian Kemp, who has long been an outspoken supporter of the president.
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