WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump is continuing his futile appeal to battleground state lawmakers to subvert the votes of their constituents.
The president has reached out twice to Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, a Republican, to see what might be possible for Trump to do about the state's presidential vote.
A person briefed on the matter told The Associated Press that Trump pressed for the state’s legislature to replace the electors for President-elect Joe Biden with those loyal to Trump. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Cutler’s spokesperson, Mike Straub, says Trump did not pressure Cutler to take any sort of action and that the call was informational.
Cutler and other top Republican lawmakers have said that, legally, the state legislature has no legal power to override the will of the voters and select a slate of presidential electors.
Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes and the state has already certified its election. Nearly every other state has certified as well and Biden has secured more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House.
The Trump campaign has filed a series of lawsuits in several swing states, claiming widespread voter fraud without substantial proof. The suits have been tossed out of state and federal courts.
Trump has also called on lawmakers in Georgia and Michigan to select slates of presidential electors, but they have all refused.