President Trump called Pennsylvania House Speaker two times in the past week to ask for help overturning his loss in the state. The Washington Post reported the calls were confirmed by House Speaker Bryan Cutler’s office.
During the calls, the President reportedly said he heard there were “issues” in Philadelphia and asked how he “could fix it,” the Post reported.
“The president said, ‘I’m hearing about all these issues in Philadelphia and these issues with your law,’ ” said Cutler spokesman Michael Straub, describing the House speaker’s two conversations with Trump. “ ‘What can we do to fix it?’ ”
The House Speaker told the president that the legislature had no power to overturn the state’s chosen slate of electors, said Straub, who was not on the calls but was briefed about them afterward.
You can read: Supreme Court moves up deadline for PA officials to respond to GOP lawsuit
The calls make Pennsylvania the third state where Trump has directly attempted to overturn a result since he lost the election. He previously reached out to Republicans in Michigan, and on Saturday he pressured Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in a call to try to replace that state’s electors.
A White House spokesman declined to comment on the calls to Cutler, and a Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the Post, late last week, the House speaker was among about 60 Republican state lawmakers who sent a letter to Pennsylvania’s congressional representatives urging them to object to the state’s electoral slate on Jan. 6, when Congress is set to formally accept the results.
Calls don´t change laws
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro, expressed on Twitter his opinion about the president’s latest tactics.
“When you lose an election, you can make as many desperate phone calls as you’d like,” Shapiro said. “Phone calls don’t change the laws in any state.”
Noticias Newswire
