President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign continues to litigate cases of voter irregularities and possible fraud in many states during the 2020 presidential election.
Unfortunately, some Republicans have given up on Trump and his legal team’s efforts to sort it all out, including Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.
Ducey certified the state’s election results Monday, awarding Arizona’s 11 electoral votes to former Vice President Joe Biden, even as Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani was still pleading the president’s case, the Associated Press reported.
“The officials certifying have made no effort to find out the truth, which to me, gives the state Legislature the perfect reason to take over the conduct of this election because it’s being conducted irresponsibly and unfairly,” Giuliani urged after the governor’s decision.
Giuliani and fellow Trump attorney Jenna Ellis were still engaged in a meeting with state lawmakers at a hotel ballroom in Phoenix Monday when Ducey signed off on the election results — a decision which vexed Trump.
“The votes have been tabulated, all 15 counties have certified their results,” Ducey said when announcing his decision in a clip Trump tweeted.
“In addition to certification, with Senator-elect Mark Kelly winning the general election, I will be signing official documentation today that will be hand-delivered to the secretary of the United States Senate so that Arizona’s newest Senator can be sworn into office as swiftly as possible,” the governor said of the new Democratic Senator.
“Why is he rushing to put a Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now,” Trump said in the Nov. 30 tweet. “@OANN What is going on with @dougducey? Republicans will long remember!”
Why is he rushing to put a Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now. @OANN What is going on with @dougducey? Republicans will long remember! https://t.co/XILGaHcyw7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2020
Trump was also quick to side with One America News Network’s Christina Bobb who tweeted that “Gov Ducey has betrayed the people of Arizona.”
Trump retweeted her message, simply calling it “TRUE!”
Wisconsin also certified its results Monday, essentially cutting off Trump’s ability to reject certain votes in six key states, according to The Washington Post.
The Trump campaign has some additional lawsuits pending that could dead-end in the same way without further compelling evidence, ultimately awarding the presidency to Biden.
But regardless of the merits of his arguments or the outcome of the challenges, the real story is how the GOP is treating its extraordinarily popular candidate who received the most votes of any sitting U.S. president.
There’s Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the failed 2008 Republican presidential nominee and Trump nemesis, who took the president to task for his outspokenness and legal challenges, saying it was “difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American President” in his Nov. 19 tweet.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) November 20, 2020
There was also Maine Sen. Susan Collins who congratulated Biden on his “apparent victory” and left no question of her disloyalty as she gushed “he loves this country, and I wish him every success,” even as Trump’s legal challenges wore on.
My statement on the 2020 Presidential election results: pic.twitter.com/8NY1WpaJpC
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) November 9, 2020
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse similarly congratulated Biden on his victory just days after Election Day with many counts were still unverified.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska urged Trump to concede despite his unresolved legal battles. This came after Murkowski had already drawn the ire of former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin for her reluctance to fill the vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat before the November elections.
There’s no doubt Trump’s path to victory is narrowing by the day, but Republicans should be looking ahead to their future as a party rather than their last gasp at smiting the president for good.
Trump was a transformative candidate, a true “big tent” Republican whose supporters continue to rally by the thousands despite years of media attacks and investigations that would have crushed any other politician.
For all of the supposed divisiveness the establishment media and RINOs pinned on Trump, there has arguably never been such a uniting force in the Republican party like the president.
Republicans would do well to harness the electoral power the Trump presidency unleashed, but instead, they’re still mired in their neverTrump hysteria to the bitter end.
They think if they sweep the last four years under the rug, they’ll be able to run another RINO candidate and Republican voters will dutifully hold their noses and vote the party line anyway.
What they don’t realize is that those days are over for the party, and they’ll need those Trump voters if they ever want another chance at power.
And Trump voters will not forget who was on their side when the going got tough.