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According to CNN White House correspondent Joe Johns, Donald Trump is in “desperation mode” as he pins his hopes on stealing away Michigan’s 16 Electoral College votes in his bid to remain in office.
With Georgia certifying their votes totals and handing the state to President-elect Joe Biden, the president has been pushing for help from Republican officials in Michigan to contest votes in their state at the same time lawmakers in the state are brushing aside the president’s assertions about election irregularities.
Speaking with hosts Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow, Johns said things are not going the president’s way.
“The bottom line is it’s pretty clear that the president is in desperation mode right now, this is the Hail Mary pass to try to get the Michigan and other battleground state legislatures to move in, overturn the popular vote and pretty much name electors that wouldn’t otherwise have been sent to Washington in the Electoral College, and it doesn’t sound like it’s going to work, quite frankly,” Johns told the hosts. “In fact, we do know that the president has invited the Michigan speaker of the house as well as the Michigan Republican majority leader of the senate in the legislature there, here to Washington, D.C.”
“Not clear at all that the speaker is coming, he sent word on CNN this morning that he had not confirmed for the meeting, but it’s a different story for the Senate majority leader of the Michigan legislature: his name is Mike Shirkey, and there is every indication that he is on his way here.”
“There is video on social media of him apparently at the airport but it’s not clear at all that’s going to do what the president wants him to do,” he added. “In fact, he’s made it quite clear in a recent interview that he has no intention of overturning the election in Michigan and his office has put out word, in fact, that there’s no provision in Michigan law for electors to be named other than those who would vote for the person who won the popular vote in their state.”
‘I think it’s also important to say that this is the kind of situation that really doesn’t fly for any of the battleground states,” he told the CNN hosts. “The most interesting thing about this, of course, is if they overturn the election in Michigan, it’s not just for the president of the United States, it’s for everyone who ran.
With Georgia certifying their votes totals and handing the state to President-elect Joe Biden, the president has been pushing for help from Republican officials in Michigan to contest votes in their state at the same time lawmakers in the state are brushing aside the president’s assertions about election irregularities.
Speaking with hosts Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow, Johns said things are not going the president’s way.
“The bottom line is it’s pretty clear that the president is in desperation mode right now, this is the Hail Mary pass to try to get the Michigan and other battleground state legislatures to move in, overturn the popular vote and pretty much name electors that wouldn’t otherwise have been sent to Washington in the Electoral College, and it doesn’t sound like it’s going to work, quite frankly,” Johns told the hosts. “In fact, we do know that the president has invited the Michigan speaker of the house as well as the Michigan Republican majority leader of the senate in the legislature there, here to Washington, D.C.”
“Not clear at all that the speaker is coming, he sent word on CNN this morning that he had not confirmed for the meeting, but it’s a different story for the Senate majority leader of the Michigan legislature: his name is Mike Shirkey, and there is every indication that he is on his way here.”
“There is video on social media of him apparently at the airport but it’s not clear at all that’s going to do what the president wants him to do,” he added. “In fact, he’s made it quite clear in a recent interview that he has no intention of overturning the election in Michigan and his office has put out word, in fact, that there’s no provision in Michigan law for electors to be named other than those who would vote for the person who won the popular vote in their state.”
‘I think it’s also important to say that this is the kind of situation that really doesn’t fly for any of the battleground states,” he told the CNN hosts. “The most interesting thing about this, of course, is if they overturn the election in Michigan, it’s not just for the president of the United States, it’s for everyone who ran.
