Things could be going better for President Donald Trump. His campaign and supporters across the country have been stumbling in lawsuits trying to turn over the results of the 2020 presidential election. Even the occasional win has been minor. Nonetheless, he’s acting like he hasn’t even gotten started pushing his claim for a second term in office.
“Many of the court cases being filed all over the Country are not ours, but rather those of people that have seen horrible abuses,” he wrote in a tweet Sunday. “Our big cases showing the unconstitutionality of the 2020 Election, & the outrage of things that were done to change the outcome, will soon be filed!”
To be sure, a number of those claims were from supporters, strictly speaking. For example, a Michigan judge recently rejected the request for an injunction based on unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about the vote count over there. A federal lawsuit filed by GOP voters in Georgia tried to stop certain counties from certifying their general election results. These counties just so happened to be predominantly Black, and favored the election winner, Democrat Joe Biden. In any case, plaintiffs demanded discovery, which they asserted would reveal more evidence of voter fraud.
But the Trump campaign has also been sticking their necks out in court, and they haven’t faired very well. One of their attorneys in Arizona acknowledged that a number of affidavits they received were either lies or “spam.” Also, supporting witnesses they brought forward admitted simply not knowing if their vote was counted. That lawsuit was later abandoned. Even at the height of that matter, plaintiff attorney Kory Langhofer denied this was a voter fraud case.
Verb choice matters.
Court is where “Trump claims.”
Twitter is where “Trump sells.”
Trump on Twitter: “There is tremendous evidence of wide spread voter fraud.”
Trump campaign in Maricopa County Court: “This is not a fraud case.” https://t.co/NoM5pK0Yx3
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) November 15, 2020
Also, for example, a Michigan court had determined another Trump campaign complaint was based on “inadmissible hearsay within hearsay.” The plaintiff team tried to appeal, but it was found to be “defective,” lacking a copy of the judgment and evidence.
Adam Klasfeld contributed to this report.
[Screengrab via CNBC]