DETROIT – In a midday press conference, Trump campaign advisor Rudy Giuliani accused Michigan and Detroit officials -- along with officials from other states -- of a massive conspiracy to rig the election in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.
“The margin in Michigan was 146,000 to 121, and these ballots were cast all basically in Detroit (where) Biden won 80-20 ... so you see a change in the results in Michigan if you take out Wayne County,” Giuliani said Thursday. He was incorrect about Biden’s lead in Michigan, which was actually by more than 155,000 votes.
The press conference came just hours after the Trump campaign filed to dismiss its case to stop the certification of Michigan’s election results.
“That case was attempting to get Wayne County board of supervisors to decertify, and they did,” Giuliani said, misidentifying the Board of Canvassers as supervisors.
But Giuliani and the campaign’s filing are wrong: The Wayne County Board of Canvassers did certify the election after a 2-2 deadlock earlier this week. The two Republicans on the board who initially refused to certify before changing their votes filed sworn statements on Wednesday saying they wanted to rescind their decision. Michigan officials said Thursday that there’s no legal basis for them to reverse their decisions.
The federal case is one of several that the Trump campaign, or his supporters, have brought against Michigan election officials -- including two that were dismissed, although both of those cases are pending appeal. In both of those cases -- one in the Court of Claims, another in the Third District -- the judges said the claims made in sworn affidavits lacked credibility, were incorrect or were too generalized.
Lt. Gov. of Michigan Garlin Gilchrist called the Trump campaign’s claims scattered and said it was time to move on.
“Voters spoke in a really clear voice in the state of Michigan, which Joe Biden won by 15 times the margin that Donald Trump won in 2016,” Gilchrist said. “The county board of canvassers unanimously certified the results and I think we need to move forward.”
It’s unclear why the Trump campaign would use an incorrect factual basis to dismiss a case they were hoping would change the election results in favor of the President.
Local 4 has been able to confirm that the leaders of Michigan’s Legislature, Speaker Lee Chatfield and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, will be heading to the White House on Friday to meet with the President. Both representatives are Republicans.
It’s unclear what they’ll discuss during the meeting, but the Trump campaign has made efforts before and after the election to put pressure on GOP leaders in key states to send alternate electors in favor of the President to the electoral college, instead of those who have been chosen to cast their votes for Biden.
Read the latest here: Michigan: GOP canvassers can’t legally rescind Wayne County election certification vote