Rudy Giuliani, who has helped lead outgoing President Donald Trump’s fight against the election outcome, delivered wildly unhinged remarks at a gathering of Trump supporters in D.C. on Wednesday. The gathering unfolded on the same day that Congress was scheduled to meet and confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college victory — and although Trump and some of his top allies have claimed that Vice President Mike Pence, in his role presiding over the proceedings, has the power to set aside any electoral votes of his own accord, this assertion is not correct. During his Wednesday remarks, Giuliani reiterated his longstanding claims that the November election was rigged, but there’s just no legitimately supporting evidence for that idea.
Giuliani said, among other things, that election authorities in certain areas of the country have refused to make election management machines available for inspection, but this assertion simply does not accurately reflect the situation. While it’s true that certain authorities have hesitated to comply with the Trump team’s frenzied demands to turn over certain materials, every election management machine in use around the country sits under the authority of state governments and the federal government, and suggesting that these machines have been used without supervision is just plain false. State authorities in Georgia commissioned an extra audit of voting machines after the November presidential election, and inspectors found no issues.
Giuliani — after arriving as the Village People song “Macho Man” played — belligerently ranted as follows:
‘If they ran such a clean election, why wouldn’t they make all the machines available immediately? If they ran such a clean election, they’d have you come in and look at the paper ballots. Who hides evidence? Criminals hide evidence!.. Over the next 10 days, we get to see the machines that are crooked, the ballots that are fraudulent, and if we’re wrong, we will be made fools of. But if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail! So — let’s have trial by combat. I’m willing to stake my reputation — the president is willing to stake his reputation on the fact that we’re gonna find criminality there.’
Check out his comments below:
who wants to tell them? pic.twitter.com/zdqiR2mNa4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021
"Over the next 10 days, we get to see the machines that are crooked, the ballots that are fraudulent. And if we're wrong, we will be made fools of. But if we're right, and lot of them will go to jail. So — let's have trial by combat" — Giuliani pic.twitter.com/QAYvnplCj7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021
There’s no particular indication that Trump and his allies will actually stop their fight against the election outcome once Congress certifies Biden’s electoral college victory on Wednesday. The theatrics continue.
