But this was no mere transgression of norms alone. The transcript and audio file were reported by The Washington Post the following day, garnering widespread attention across a nation already aware of Trump’s refusal to accept the certified election results and assent to a peaceful transition of power. 6 As Trump apparently saw it, if Raffensperger’s office complied with his request and identified 11,780 votes for disqualification, Trump would be named the winner of the state’s presidential election (and presumably could use that development to seek a broader unraveling of the certified election results in other states confirming his defeat). 5 That number mattered to Trump for a single reason: It was exactly one more vote than the margin of Joe Biden’s 11,779-vote victory in the state. He urged, and ultimately threatened, Raffensperger to reverse the election outcome-culminating in a demand that Raffensperger “find 11,780 votes” that could be deemed fraudulent and tossed out. This is Trump media.” 4īut Trump did more than merely complain about the election and catalog disinformation. Throughout the roughly hour-long call, the former president repeatedly insisted that he had won the state of Georgia “by hundreds of thousands of votes.” 1 As purported evidence, Trump cited “rally size” and “political people” who he said assured him that “there’s no way they beat me.” 2 He cycled through a list of conspiracy theories to explain his loss, covering “3,000 pounds” of shredded ballots drop boxes “being delivered and delivered late” a particular “professional vote scammer and hustler” who Trump claimed destroyed no fewer than 18,000 of his votes and “the other thing, dead people.” 3 At one point, when Raffensperger responded to one of Trump’s false claims by cautioning him that “the problem you have with social media …people can say anything,” Trump answered: “Oh, this isn’t social media. Trump placed a call to Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. On Saturday, January 2, 2021, at around 3:00 p.m., former President Donald J.
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