Trump reportedly didn't directly pressure Michigan lawmakers in 'unprecedented meeting'

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Michigan's Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R) and House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R), the two state GOP lawmakers who met with President Trump at the White House on Friday, issued a joint statement following the encounter that they "have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan" and, therefore, they will "follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors."

After several legal setbacks, Trump was seemingly attempting to discourage Shirkey and Chatfield from certifying the presidential results in Michigan — where President-elect Joe Biden holds a 150,000-vote advantage — and instead have the state's GOP legislators choose electors. Ben Ginsburg, a long-time GOP election lawyer who has criticized Trump's actions throughout the election process, said the meeting was "unprecedented," adding that "there's been nothing close to this situation" in terms of a sitting president trying to interfere with a state's certification process.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.