President Donald Trump continues to insist that he won the 2020 election, though almost all of his court battles have failed and a number of states, including Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan have certified President-elect Joe Biden as the victor.
The president was expected to join his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, at a hearing in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, but those plans were derailed following reports that Giuliani has been exposed to coronavirus.
Instead, the president called into the hearing, delivering his speech through a cell phone held up to the microphone. The hearing was organized by Pennsylvania Republicans and was not held at the state Capitol, but instead in a hotel conference room.
During his call, the president claimed, “This was an election that we won easily. We won it by a lot. A big energy official was on this morning, on a important show and said, ‘There’s no way Trump didn’t win Pennsylvania because the energy industry was all for him.'”
He continued, “This election was rigged, and we can’t let that happen. We can’t let it happen for our country and this election has to be turned around because we won Pennsylvania by a lot and we won all of these swing states by a lot.”
"This was an election that we won easily. We won it by a lot," Trump lies during the Pennsylvania hearing. "This election was rigged … we won all of these swing states by a lot." pic.twitter.com/IHJgHpk1NA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 25, 2020
Throughout the call, the president continued his drive to cast doubt Biden’s victory, as he said, “It would be easy for me to say ‘oh, let’s worry about four years from now.’ No, this election was lost by the Democrats. They cheated. It was a fraudulent election.”
"This election was lost by the Democrats. They cheated," Trump lies. "It was a fraudulent election." pic.twitter.com/lfQNdT8zg9
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 25, 2020
The president lost in Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes when the count was certified this week.
While the president has refused to acknowledge Biden as the winner of the election, he did announce that he recommended the Government Services Administration to make transition funds available to the president-elect.
Though in a tweet following that recommendation, the president promised, “We will never concede.”