US President Donald Trump on Monday hosted several Republican lawmakers at the White House to discuss an ultimately futile effort to block the Congress from affirming US president-elect Joe Biden’s victory in last month’s election.
The meeting underscored Trump’s refusal to accept the reality of his loss and his willingness to entertain undemocratic efforts to overturn the will of the majority of US voters. Biden is scheduled to be sworn in as president on Jan. 20.
With no credible legal options remaining and the Electoral College having confirmed Biden’s victory earlier this month, Trump is turning his attention to Jan. 6. That is when the Congress participates in a count of the electoral votes, which Biden won 306-232.
The count, required by the constitution, is generally a formality, but members can use the event to object to a state’s votes.
US Representative Mo Brooks said he organized the meeting with about a dozen other House Republicans who are willing to challenge the results.
“President Trump is very supportive of our effort,” Brooks said in an interview late on Monday.
With Democrats holding the House majority and several Republican senators now acknowledging Biden’s victory, any effort to block congressional approval of the election appears sure to fail.
US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned his members against taking such a step.
US Senator John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, urged lawmakers to remember that an effort to block the election results in the Congress was “just not going anywhere.”
“I mean, in the Senate, it would go down like a shot dog,” Thune told CNN. “I just don’t think that it makes a lot of sense to put everybody through this when you know what the ultimate outcome is gonna be.”
Brooks said that the White House meeting was originally scheduled for about one hour, but lasted for three hours, with Trump participating for much of it.
Brooks said that the group is making plans to challenge the election results from Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada, all battleground states Biden carried. He in particular has raised questions about the way state elections were conducted this year, with some having made changes to ballots and procedures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the new procedures might have led to confusion in some states, state and federal officials have said that there was no credible evidence of widespread fraud.
Still, Trump’s top aides, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, on Monday continued to push claims of election malfeasance, without providing any evidence.
Trump and his allies have filed about 50 lawsuits challenging the election results, and nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. He has also lost twice at the US Supreme Court.
With no further tenable legal recourse, Trump has been fuming and peppering allies for options as he refuses to accept his loss.
McConnell has told Senate Republicans that a dispute over the results would yield a “terrible vote.” They would have to back Trump or publicly buck him.
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