President Donald Trump is looking to one person amid his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
There will be a joint session of Congress on Wednesday where they will count the electoral votes for president and vice president. Vice President Mike Pence will preside over the electoral vote count and is supposed to announce the winner at the end of the session.
Trump has refused to concede the election and continues to push unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. He is seeking to push Republicans to challenge the electoral vote count on Wednesday, despite the Electoral College vote affirming Joe Biden as the winner.
During a rally in Georgia on Monday for the Senate runoff elections, Trump told supporters, “I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you.”
He continued, “He’s a great guy. Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much.”
See Trump’s comments below:
President Trump: "I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you. I hope that our great Vice President, our great Vice President, comes through for us. He's a great guy. Of course, if he doesn't come through, I won't like him quite as much." pic.twitter.com/1eYA5bva7M
— The Hill (@thehill) January 5, 2021
Trump said that Pence is “going to have a lot to say about it,” adding, “And you know one thing with him, you’re going to get straight shots. He’s going to call it straight.”
Despite the president’s hope that Pence could change the results, as The New York Times points out, the vice president’s role at the joint session of Congress is “largely ceremonial.” As the Times reports, “Pence does not have unilateral power to affect the outcome of Wednesday’s proceedings.”
Pence, however, said in Georgia on Monday, “I know we all have got our doubts about the last election. I want to assure you that I share the concerns of millions of Americans about voting irregularities. I promise you, come this Wednesday, we will have our day in Congress.”
The vice president’s chief of staff weighed in on the planned effort by several Republican lawmakers to object to the certification of the Electoral College votes.
Marc Short said, “The vice president welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people on Jan. 6,” according to the Times.