POTUS claims next government will be 'Trump administration' if GOP legislators or SCOTUS shows 'courage'
President Donald Trump, who is yet to concede defeat in the November presidential election against Joe Biden, said on Tuesday, December 8, that the next administration “will be the Trump administration” hoping that someone, be it a state legislator or a Supreme Court justice -- shows the “courage” to announce him the winner of the contest. The Democratic candidate got more than seven million popular votes than Trump, who also failed to clinch more electoral college (EC) votes like in 2016, thanks to his losses in a number of key states.
Speaking at the Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit at the White House which was also attended by his senior adviser Ivanka Trump, the GOP commander-in-chief said: “And hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration, because you can’t steal hundreds of thousands of votes. You can’t have fraud and deception and all of the things that they did, and then slightly win a swing state. And you just have to look at the numbers. Look at what’s been on tape. Look at all the corruption. And we’ll see. You can’t win an election like that.”
Trump dares legislators, SCOTUS
He then added: “Now, let’s see whether or not somebody has the courage — whether it’s a legislator or legislatures, or whether it’s a justice of the Supreme Court or a number of justices of the Supreme Court. Let’s see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right.”
Trump, who has accused the opponents of stealing the election against him, has legally challenged the November 3 elections although it has not brought him any relief so far. A frustrated Trump has also gone after a number of top Republican officials, including governors of some key states, for not declaring him the winner. “If somebody has the courage, I know who the next administration will be. I will tell you what: Life will be much easier for this country,” Trump, whose presidency battled several challenges like coronavirus pandemic, race riots and economic downturn in the election year, said.
Trump recently showed signs of softening his stand by allowing the General Services Administration (GSA) to set the transition ball rolling but soon after, he was back to his rigid best saying the GSA doesn’t determine who will be the next president. Some of his close allies have even given him sinister advice of suspending the Constitution and declaring martial law under which the military will hold fresh elections.
...fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
Remember, the GSA has been terrific, and Emily Murphy has done a great job, but the GSA does not determine who the next President of the United States will be.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2020
The remarks by Trump, who praised the Operation Warp Speed team for their work on developing and distributing the vaccine to counter the virus that has killed more than 286,000 people, came as Tuesday marked the ‘safe harbor’ date -- a provision in the federal law that requires to states to settle all election-related disputes before the EC meets so that the final results of the presidential election reach a conclusion.
'Safe harbor' date comes 6 days before EC sits together
On November 3, the voters cast their ballots for which the EC electors represent them and not for the presidential candidates. Those electors then meet and cast their votes and the results are finalized by the Congress. "Safe harbor" comes six days (December 14) before the EC sits together to cast the final votes for the president and vice president. The new administration takes over on January 20.
The states must submit their "Certificates of Ascertainment" to the National Archives -- a formal document that certifies the state’s electors to either of the two major candidates. The Archivist of the United States has got certificates from at least 26 states -- including the five where Trump’s legal team has challenged the results -- Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Biden is expected to get 306 EC votes as against Trump’s 232, the same margin that separated Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.
The Trump team, however, is not too bothered about the datelines. It has argued that the only date that matters is Inauguration Day. Dates like December 8 (safe harbor), December 14 (EC meeting) and January 6 (Congress’s meeting to certify the election) are less significant for it, which gives a clear indication that the incumbent’s team is not concerned about the deadlines in its bid to overturn the election.
“It is not unprecedented for an election to last beyond December 8,” Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis said in a statement. “The only fixed day in the U.S. Constitution is the inauguration of the president on January 20th at noon.”