By Aaron Miller-
President Trump is refusing to bow to Republican pressure on him to concede defeat to President elect Biden, after more of his allies have persuaded him to gracefully allow a smooth transition.
Recently, former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie. also a former ally of President Trump, has joined the voices trying to get Trump to concede defeat to Biden. All efforts have failed as the sitting president pushes with his relentless efforts to overturn the elections.
Kevin Cramer, the Republican senator from North Dakota, on Sunday defended Mr Trump for merely “exercising his legal options” but said it was “past time to start a transition”. “There has to be an end,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press. Chris Christie, the former Republican governor of New Jersey and an ally of Mr Trump, on Sunday called his legal team “a national embarrassment” and said it was time for the president to concede.
On Saturday, a Conservative judge in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening rejected another Trump campaign election lawsuit, describing it as lacking in legal merit and evidence. However, Trump lawyers have said they would appeal the dismissal with the intention of taking the case to the Supreme Court.
“We will find massive numbers of fraudulent ballots,” the outgoing US president claimed on Twitter on Sunday. “Fight hard Republicans.” Trump has fired off lawsuits that have almost all been dismissed by the court, and urged state lawmakers to disregard the results and unilaterally declare the election for him.
Trump’s legal team, including Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, and Sidney Powell, a defence attorney, have all mounted claims of a conspiracy against Trump by Republican election officials.
A Michigan state elections board made up of two Republicans and two Democrats is also due to meet on Monday to vote on the certification of its results. Earlier this week, a similar county level board in Michigan’s Wayne County, which includes Detroit, briefly deadlocked along partisan lines.
Ronald Klain, who Mr Biden has named as White House chief of staff, said the president-elect was preparing to take office on January 20, regardless of Mr Trump’s efforts, and will announce his first cabinet appointments on Tuesday.
“Everything that Donald Trump’s doing now is bad for democracy, it’s bad for our position, our image in the world, but it’s not going to change what happens here when we get a new president next year,” Mr Klain said on This Week.
Counties in Pennsylvania are set to certify their results to the state’s top election official after the Saturday dismissal of the Trump campaign lawsuit that sought to block that certification. Mr Trump’s lawyers have said they would appeal the dismissal with the intention of taking the case to the Supreme Court, a move widely viewed as a longshot given the failure of Mr Trump’s legal strategy thus far.
A Michigan state elections board made up of two Republicans and two Democrats is also due to meet on Monday to vote on whether to certify its results.