Trump loses election lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Michigan, drops Arizona case
Judges have dealt double blows to President Trump's longshot attempts to disqualify enough ballots to win the presidency.
On Friday, a Michigan judge rejected an injunction claiming election irregularities were rampant in Detroit's Wayne County. Trump supporters' lawsuit claimed the vote count was plagued by fraud, but Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny said the suit didn't prove he should halt certification of the vote or order it to be audited, Bloomberg reports.
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.
And as President-elect Joe Biden's lead grew in Arizona, the Trump campaign dropped its legal challenges throughout Maricopa County, CNBC reports. "The tabulation of votes statewide has rendered unnecessary a judicial ruling as to the presidential electors," Trump's campaign said in a Friday filing. Biden's leads in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia are even wider than his edge in Arizona.
Trump did secure a small win Thursday when a Pennsylvania court ruled election officials couldn't count a small number of mail ballots from people who failed to provide proper identification, as Pennsylvania's secretary of state didn't have the authority to extend that deadline in the first place. The combined number of ballots Trump's campaign disputed in Pennsylvania would be far from enough to negate Biden's margin.
-
The Salt Path Scandal: an ‘excellent’ documentaryThe Week Recommends Sky film dives back into the literary controversy and reveals a ‘wealth of new details’
-
AI griefbots create a computerized afterlifeUnder the Radar Some say the machines help people mourn; others are skeptical
-
Sudoku hard: December 17, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
US offers Ukraine NATO-like security pact, with caveatsSpeed Read The Trump administration has offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those it would receive from NATO
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
-
Australia weighs new gun laws after antisemitic attackSpeed Read A father and son opened fire on Jewish families at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing at least 15
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Benin thwarts coup attemptSpeed Read President Patrice Talon condemned an attempted coup that was foiled by the West African country’s army
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
