Just hours after a taped phone call — one that proved President Trump and his team tried to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger into “recalculating votes” in his favor — leaked, the president is now burning bridges with some of his closest allies, all because they won’t support his Electoral College challenge.
Trump, whose disastrous phone call to Georgia’s election officials has some Democrats pushing for another impeachment vote, took to Twitter to single out former GOP buddies, including Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, for not supporting his claims of voter fraud. Cotton, a staunch Trump supporter, issued a statement, in which he predicted this push to take back the presidency would backfire on Republicans. He also refused to let Congress determine the winner of the 2020 Presidential Election.
“The Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states — not Congress,” Cotton said. “They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College — not Congress.”
Cotton’s stance echoes the position of fellow Republican Senators like Graham and even former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who have publicly opposed the president’s Electoral College Challenge. Trump, for his part, seems to be taking the news that his GOP groupies are finally turning on him in stride — and by “in stride,” we mean with nuclear-level rants on Twitter in which he vows his fanbase will “NEVER FORGET,” which Republicans aren’t falling in line with his last-ditch effort to dismantle democracy.
How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG. You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2021
The “Surrender Caucus” within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective “guardians” of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2021
Trump went on to quote some of his Electoral College challengers like Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Ron Johnson, both of whom claim they believe widespread voter fraud impacted the results of the presidential election (though no real proof of that has been offered up at this time).
“We are not acting to thwart the Democratic process, we are acting to protect it.” @SenRonJohnson
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2021
“We’ve seen in the last few months, unprecedented amounts of Voter Fraud.” @SenTedCruz True!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2021
You know it’s bad when you’ve got to quote-tweet the guy whose wife you callously insulted just a few years ago because he’s one of the only ones left in your camp. It would all be hilariously ironic if it weren’t so damn sad.