Meets with Michigan legislative leaders at White House to pressure them on certification
In an extraordinary intervention, Trump summoned Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield to the White House. The meeting was widely seen as an attempt to pressure them to intervene in the state's certification process or appoint rival electors. The lawmakers emerged stating they would follow the law and saw no evidence to change the outcome.
Analysis Feed
AI commentaryThe Legislative Pressure Campaign Trump summoned Michigan State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield to the White House--an extraordinary breach of federalism. The goal: pressure them to refuse to certify Michigan's electoral votes for Biden. The Refuse-and-Replace Scheme The strategy was for state legislatures to declare the election fraudulent, refuse to certify Biden's victory, and appoint Trump electors instead. This would have been a constitutional coup. The Michigan legislators refused to go along. Part of a Pattern This meeting was one of many state-level pressure attempts. Trump would call Georgia's Kemp and Raffensperger, Pennsylvania's Cutler, and pressure other states. Each refusal narrowed Trump's options until only the mob remained.