Trump demands that legitimately cast votes stop being counted

Trump.
(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

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Jeva Lange

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.