Trump demands that legitimately cast votes stop being counted
President Trump demanded that the country "STOP THE COUNT!" on Thursday morning, following attempts by his campaign to stall the ongoing vote count in states like Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and, as of Thursday morning, Nevada. Though the Trump campaign's lawsuits argue that vote counting needs to be temporarily paused until the campaign is given "meaningful access" to observe "the opening of ballots and the counting process," which they are already allowed to do under state laws, Trump's tweet seems to recklessly insinuate that he wants a complete stop to the recording of legal votes.
As many have pointed out, though, Trump's demand is almost nonsensical, because his campaign's best hope as of Thursday morning is that the president makes up votes among the uncounted ballots, since "if you stop the count, right now, Biden wins with 270 electoral votes — with leads in AZ/NV, plus the states where he's already the projected winner," The New York Times' Nate Cohn pointed out.
Perhaps even more seriously, though, Trump's demand to stop counting legitimately-cast and on-time votes shows a break from his rhetoric on Wednesday, when he said that the voting should stop, notes BBC reporter Anthony Zurcher:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Legal experts have pointed out that Trump has no grounds to make such demands. "The fact that local officials could not make it through the unprecedently large pile [of votes] in a single day is no basis for discarding those ballots — or for disenfranchising the eligible voters who properly cast them," writes Washington Post election law expert Edward B. Foley. "There is not one iota of possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court, or any court, would disqualify those ballots."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
-
Mall World: why are people dreaming about a shopping centre?Under The Radar Thousands of strangers are dreaming about the same thing and no one sure why
-
Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
-
Proposed Trump-Putin talks in Budapest on holdSpeed Read Trump apparently has no concrete plans to meet with Putin for Ukraine peace talks
-
Bolivia elects centrist over far-right presidential rivalSpeed Read Relative political unknown Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, was elected president
-
Madagascar president in hiding, refuses to resignSpeed Read Andry Rajoelina fled the country amid Gen Z protests and unrest
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace planSpeed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange
-
Israel intercepts 2nd Gaza aid flotilla in a weekSpeed Read The Israeli military intercepted a flotilla of nine boats with 145 activists aboard along with medical and food aid
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s planSpeed Read Hamas accepted the general terms of Trump’s 20-point plan, including the release of all remaining hostages
