Internet bashes Donald Trump for pressurizing Wayne County canvassers to not certify 2020 election

WAYNE COUNTY, MICHIGAN: Chaos erupted online after an audio recording showed how former president Donald Trump pressurized two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers into not certifying the 2020 presidential election.

In a phone call on November 17, 2020, the leading Republican presidential contender told GOP Wayne County canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann that they would appear "terrible" if they signed the documents, the Detroit News reported.

Palmer, who was chair of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers at the time, and Hartmann faced criticism the night they declined to certify the county's vote.

During the board meeting that addressed the certification of the 2020 election, the two Republican members initially cast their votes against the certification.

But, later in the meeting, they took a different stand and supported the approval. Then, Palmer and Hartmann walked out of the meeting and never returned, even though the meeting was not officially over – which is when Trump called the canvassers.

The next day, the duo attempted to withdraw their votes for the certification of the Wayne County election results, but their attempts were unsuccessful, according to Fox KTVU.

What did Trump say on the call?

“We’ve got to fight for our country. We can’t let these people take our country away from us,” Trump said during the call, which also involved Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.

Additionally, McDaniel implied that if Palmer and Hartmann declined to sign the certification form, they would both get an offer of legal counsel—possibly from the RNC.

“If you can go home tonight, do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys,” she reportedly said, to which Trump added, “We’ll take care of that.”

He went on to say that Detroit is "crooked as hell" and that Republicans have been "cheated on this election". “How can anybody sign something when you have more votes than people?” the 77-year-old former president said on the call.

In response to the audio release, McDaniel, a Michigan native and Wayne County resident, argued that voters would "never know what happened in Detroit" if the election were to be certified without an audit.

She told the Detroit News that Joe Biden’s narrow margin of victory in the state “warranted an audit". “What I said publicly and repeatedly at the time, as referenced in my letter on Nov. 21, 2020, is that there was ample evidence that warranted an audit,” she added.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung also responded to the audio release, saying “[a]ll of President Trump’s actions were taken in furtherance of his duty as President of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity, including investigating the rigged and stolen 2020 Presidential Election.”

“President Trump and the American people have the Constitutional right to free and fair elections,” Cheung said in a statement to the Hill, adding “Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats are spinning their wheels in the face of devastating polling numbers and desperately leaking misleading information to interfere in the election.”

Internet reacts to Trump’s call release

After the call recording surfaced on social media, many users slammed Trump for pressurizing Palmer and Hartmann.

“I don't wanna hear "how bad it is" anymore. I want to see conviction and sentencing. All the rest is noise,” one user fumed.

“How many lying faces does he have,” a second user mocked.

The third user attacked Trump, saying “Enough of the rabbit in the hat act. He needs to put all of his cards on the table and end this once and for all. Make it stop.”

“He should be in jail. How can anyone get away with this and still run for president,” the fourth user slammed.

The fifth one wrote, “I’d bet there a many more of those to come. He’s got a slam dunk case or he wouldn’t have bothered.”

“What is it going to take to get him into prison? How the HELL does he keep getting away with all this?” one more wrote.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.