Trump to "fight like hell" to hold on to presidency

AP | Dalton

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

With mounting desperation, Donald Trump declared on Monday night that he would “fight like hell” to hold on to the presidency and appealed to Republican lawmakers to reverse his election loss to Joe Biden when they convene this week to confirm the Electoral College vote.

Electoral voters won by President-elect Biden are “not gonna take this White House!” he shouted as supporters cheered at an outdoor rally in Georgia. Trump’s announced purpose for the trip was to boost Republican Senate candidates in Tuesday’s runoff election, but he spent much of his speech complaining bitterly about his election loss — which he insists he won “by a lot.”

Earlier, in Washington, he pressed Republican lawmakers to formally object Wednesday at a joint session of Congress that is to confirm Biden’s victory in the Electoral College, itself a confirmation of Biden’s nationwide victory.

Though he got nothing but cheers on Monday night, Trump’s attempt to overturn the presidential election is splitting the Republican Party. Some GOP lawmakers backing him are rushing ahead, despite an outpouring of condemnation from current and former party officials warning the effort is undermining Americans’ faith in democracy. All 10 living former defence secretaries wrote in an op-ed that “the time for questioning the results has passed”.

It’s unclear the extent to which GOP leaders in Congress will be able to control Wednesday’s joint session, which could drag into the night, though the challenges to the election are all but certain to fail. Trump himself is whipping up crowds for a Wednesday rally near the White House.

Trump said in Georgia: “I hope that our great vice president comes through for us. He’s a great guy. Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much.” He added: “No, Mike is a great guy.”

Trump repeated numerous times his claims of election fraud, which have been rejected by election officials — Republican as well as Democratic in the state after state — and courts up to the US Supreme Court. His former attorney general, William Barr, also has said there is no evidence of fraud that could change the election outcome.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has tried to prevent his party from engaging in this battle, which could help define the GOP in the post-Trump era. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Trump ally, has declined to say much publicly on it.

Biden, speaking at a drive-in rally in Atlanta, said Trump “spends more time whining and complaining” than he does working on solving the coronavirus pandemic. He added dismissively: “I don’t know why he still wants the job — he doesn’t want to do the work.”

With Biden set to be inaugurated on January 20, Trump is intensifying efforts to prevent the traditional transfer of power. On a call disclosed on Sunday, he can be heard pressuring Georgia officials to “find” him more votes from the election he lost in that state.