Tape shows Donald Trump pushed Michigan officials not to certify 2020 vote, new report says
- The state, which was won by Biden, was one of the key places Trump focused on in the weeks after Election Day
- The 2 officials, both Republicans, ultimately issued signed affidavits asserting their opposition to certifying Wayne County’s results
Donald Trump pressured two election officials not to certify 2020 vote totals in a key Michigan county, according to a recording of a post-election phone call disclosed in a new report by The Detroit News.
The former US president’s 2024 campaign neither confirmed nor denied the recording’s legitimacy, insisting in a statement that all of Trump’s actions after his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden were taken to uphold his oath of office and ensure fair elections.
Trump has consistently repeated falsehoods about the 2020 election as he runs again for the White House. No evidence has emerged in a litany of federal, state and outside investigations of voter fraud that could have changed the outcome of the election.
The November 17, 2020, telephone call included then-President Trump, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Wayne County elections authorities Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, both of them Republicans, The Detroit News reported.
Trump told the two canvassers that they would look “terrible” if they certified results after having initially opposed certification, the newspaper said. The two ultimately issued signed affidavits asserting their opposition to certifying Wayne County’s results.