'Just want to find 11,780 votes...': Trump continues to deny poll results, urges Georgia's official to overturn election in leaked phone call

'Just want to find 11,780 votes...': Trump continues to deny poll results, urges Georgia's official to overturn election in leaked phone call

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Monday, January 04, 2021, 12:10 PM IST
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US President Donald Trump | AFP

President-elect Joe Biden may be days away from taking oath, but it would seem that Donald Trump has not quite given up his hope of retaining the White House. In a recorded call, Trump was heard asking Georgia's election chief to 'find' votes to reverse Biden's win. Reportedly, Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger to "find" one more vote in the state that had earlier certified Biden's win by 11,779 votes.

Audio snippets of the conversation were posted online by The Washington Post. A recording of the call was later obtained by The Associated Press from a person who was on the call. "All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state," he was quoted as saying. The report adds that Raffensperger and his office's general counsel had repeatedly rejected Trump's assertions during the call.

And while the White House and Raffensperger have not commented on the leaked audio, the President had reiterated his opinion on Twitter too. "The Swing States did not even come close to following the dictates of their State Legislatures. These States “election laws” were made up by local judges & politicians, not by their Legislatures, and are therefore, before even getting to irregularities and fraud, UNCONSTITUTIONAL!" read one tweet from the President.

"Sorry, but the number of votes in the Swing States that we are talking about is VERY LARGE and totally OUTCOME DETERMINATIVE!" read another irate post.

With around two weeks left for Biden to be sworn in, President Trump continues to deny his loss. He appears to be convinced that Georgia's 16 electoral votes were wrongly given to Biden - a claim that has so far been unable to find official backing and evidence.

In recent days, with the Senate run-off elections approaching, Georgia has become a political hotspot. On Monday, both Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will travel to Georgia to make one final push for their respective parties. The poll assumes greater significance because the results will also decide which party controls the upper chamber for the next two years. The Senate run-offs will take place on January 5, where Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue will face-off against Democratic Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

Reportedly, while Republicans fear that Trump's repeated allegations regarding the presidential election might affect affect the party's turnout, GOP strategists acknowledge that his presence is important to generate enthusiasm to get his base to the polls.

(With inputs from agencies)

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