Trump begs Georgia officials to find votes in leaked phone call
'There's nothing wrong with saying that you've recalculated,' said the lame duck president
In an hour-long audio recording that took place on Saturday and was obtained by the Washington Post, President Donald Trump lashed out and pleaded with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, attempting to persuade him to “find” votes to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
“We have won this election in Georgia,” Trump declared at the start of the phone call that was released Sunday. The president also asserted that the people of Georgia are “angry” about his loss.
Then, using a conspiratorial tone, and sounding flustered, Trump cut to the chase and suggested that Raffensperger fraudulently hand over the election to him. “There’s nothing wrong with saying that you’ve recalculated,” he slyly suggested.
Read More: Trump pressures Georgia governor to overturn Biden’s win
Apparently wanting no part in the scheme, Raffensperger, who was mostly silent as Trump harangued, finally spoke up. “Well, Mr. President, the challenge you have is that the data you have is wrong.”
Since the November election, Trump has maintained that the election was stolen from him. The beleaguered secretary of state along with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp have been criticized multiple times by the president on Twitter. Trump even threatened jail time if the results were not changed.
In an effort to appease Trump, Raffensperger ordered numerous recounts of election ballots and consequently certified the state’s election results multiple times.
Nevertheless, Trump continued to insist that he won the state of Georgia in a landslide.
As the phone call progressed, the president became more incensed, at times calling Raffensperger a child, and either “dishonest or incompetent.”
Read More: Trump challenges vote results while urging turnout in Georgia runoff
Sounding desperate, during an exchange with Raffensperger’s general counsel, Trump asked if he thought it was possible that votes were shredded in Fulton County, and then he questioned whether or not Dominion removed voting equipment from the area.
The lawyer responded in the negative to all of the president’s questions.
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