President Trump has a new longshot strategy for overturning President-elect Joe Biden's win.
Over the past few weeks, Trump and his supporters have lost and dropped lawsuit after lawsuit aimed at throwing out ballots to take states away from Biden. But with a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania and reported invitation to Michigan's Republican legislators, Trump is looking to shift the focus of his post-election campaign directly to GOP state legislatures.
On Wednesday, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit alleging the presidential election in Pennsylvania was full of fraud — enough to suggest the ballots cast there shouldn't even be trusted. Instead, Trump's legal team suggested the court should "enter an order" declaring the results there — which gave Biden a nearly 80,000-vote lead — "defective" and allow "the Pennsylvania General Assembly to choose Pennsylvania's electors." That request would effectively strip Biden of his win, as Pennsylvania's assembly is in Republican hands.
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 on Thursday, Trump invited leaders of Michigan's Republican state legislatures to the White House to discuss his attempt to reverse the election outcome there, unnamed sources tell The Detroit News and other outlets. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield, both Republicans, will visit Trump on Friday in what The New York Times calls a "brazen" attempt to stop the legislature from certifying the state's electoral votes for Biden.
Shirkey, for one, told Bridge Michigan on Tuesday he wouldn't be certifying the state's vote for Trump. "That's not going to happen," he said. Trump had reportedly reached out to canvassers in Michigan who had at first decided not to certify Wayne County's election results.
-
Quiz of The Week: 6 – 12 SeptemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A palace on fire, a shopping cart protest, and more
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is horse-racing going on strike?Podcast Plus, will the South Korean women who worked in state-run brothels set up for US soldiers succeed? And what’s behind a surge in leg-lengthening surgery?
-
Russia slams Kyiv, hits government buildingSpeed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
-
Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU officesSpeed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
-
UN votes to end Lebanon peacekeeping missionSpeed Read The Trump administration considers the UN's Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to be a 'waste of money'
-
Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital kills 20Speed Read The dead include five journalists who worked for The Associated Press, Reuters and Al Jazeera
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
Kyiv marks independence as Russia downplays peaceSpeed Read President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with Zelenskyy for peace talks pushed by President Donald Trump
-
Trump halts Gaza visas as Israelis protest warSpeed Read Laura Loomer voiced her concerns over injured Palestinian kids being brought to the US for treatment and a potential 'Islamic invasion'
