WTF Just Happened Today

Friday, November 20, 2020

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1/ Michigan’s Republican legislative leaders met with Trump at the White House ahead of the state’s canvassing board meeting on Monday, when the election results are expected to be certified. Details of the meeting with Mike Shirkey, the leader of the State Senate, and Lee Chatfield, the speaker of the state House, are unclear. Trump and his campaign have openly floated the idea that the board of canvassers could choose to not to certify the results, forcing the state legislatures to appoint new electors who would overturn the will of the voters. All 83 counties, however, have certified their vote counts, giving Biden a 156,000-vote margin of victory. The state board of canvassing is scheduled to meet Monday to certify the final state tally. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, meanwhile, refused to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory – her first press briefing since October 1 and since Trump lost the election – and denied that Trump had invited officials from the Michigan state legislature to the White House as part of an “advocacy meeting.” Rudy Giuliani was involved in arranging the meeting, but won’t attend after being exposed to the coronavirus. Giuliani’s son, Andrew Giuliani, a White House aide, tested positive for COVID-19. And, finally, Trump has expressed interest in inviting Republican state legislators from Pennsylvania to the White House for a similar meeting. (NPR / Bloomberg / Politico / Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / The Hill / CBS News / Axios / Reuters / CNN)

• ✏️ Notables.

• Trump is using the power of his office to try to reverse the results of the election, orchestrating a pressure campaign to persuade Republican officials in Michigan, Georgia, and elsewhere to overturn the will of voters in what critics call an unprecedented subversion of democracy. “In an extraordinary news conference Thursday at the Republican National Committee headquarters, Trump’s attorneys claimed without evidence there was a centralized conspiracy with roots in Venezuela to rig the U.S. presidential election. They alleged voter fraud in Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and other cities whose municipal governments are controlled by Democrats and where President-elect Joe Biden won by large margins.” (Washington Post)

• Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election are unprecedented in American hi...

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