Combo photo shows U.S. President-elect Joe Biden (L) and sitting President Donald Trump attending their respective events on different occasions. (Xinhua)
All 50 states and Washington, D.C. have reportedly certified their election results. Electors are scheduled to meet in their state capital cities on Monday to cast their votes and make Biden’s projected victory official.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) — A federal judge in U.S. midwestern state Wisconsin on Saturday dismissed a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign challenging Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the key swing state, dealing another blow to the president’s re-election bid ahead of the upcoming Election College vote.
However, Trump refused to concede, touting in a tweet that “thousands of people” were gathering in Washington, D.C. on Saturday in support of his efforts to overturn Biden’s projected Election College victory.
“Wow! Thousands of people forming in Washington (D.C.) for Stop the Steal,” Trump tweeted before departing the White House en route to the Army-Navy football game at West Point.
Pro-Trump organizers planned demonstrations in front of the Supreme Court, Capitol and the Department of Justice as part of the events on Saturday, the second time a major march has been organized to back Trump and protest election results since Nov. 3 Election Day.
Small pro-Trump rallies were also mounted in Atlanta in southern state Georgia, St. Paul in midwestern state Minnesota, Spanish Fort in southern state Alabama and some other areas across the country on the day, according to a New York Times report, noting that many Trump supporters remained convinced that the election was stolen, no matter what the courts say.
All 50 states and Washington, D.C. have reportedly certified their election results. Electors are scheduled to meet in their state capital cities on Monday to cast their votes and make Biden’s projected victory official.
An election official works at a polling station in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Nov. 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
Trump has so far lost almost 60 court fights launched or supported by his campaign and allies in state and federal courts since the November election, according to a CNBC report.
In the case of Wisconsin, where the former vice president won by more than 20,000 votes, Trump was suing the state elections commission over guidance related to absentee ballots.
“A sitting president who did not prevail in his bid for reelection has asked for federal court help in setting aside the popular vote based on disputed issues of election administration, issues he plainly could have raised before the vote occurred,” Brett Ludwig, the judge in the case, wrote in his decision. “This is an extraordinary case.”
“This Court has allowed plaintiff the chance to make his case and he has lost on the merits,” wrote Ludwig, who was appointed by Trump. He ruled that Trump “has not proved that defendants violated his rights under the Electors Clause.”
One day earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit from Texas, which is supported by Trump in a bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in four battleground states.
Trump’s attorney filed a motion on Wednesday with the Supreme Court after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleged that new voting processes in key swing states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic skewed the presidential election results.
Photo taken on July 14, 2020 shows the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
“The State of Texas’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution,” the highest court wrote on Friday. “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections.”
Earlier this week, the justices also turned away an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans.
While the Biden team said it’s ‘no surprise’ Supreme Court rejected Texas lawsuit, Trump went to Twitter to blast the court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, No Courage!” Trump tweeted on Friday night.
“This is a great and disgraceful miscarriage of justice. The people of the United States were cheated, and our Country disgraced. Never even given our day in Court!” Trump again lamented via social media on Saturday morning. Twitter flagged the president’s tweet with a warning: “This claim about election fraud is disputed.”
Biden is projected to win 306 electoral votes, compared with 232 for Trump. To clinch the White House, a candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes of the 538 in total.
