Donald Trump pleads with Georgia official to 'find 11,780 more votes' in phone call

Donald Trump has been slammed after urging a Georgia official to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's election victory in the state.

The US President has been accused of committing an "assault on democracy" after a recording of an hour-long phone call with secretary of state Brad Raffensperger was leaked.

Trump could be heard berating Republicans Raffensperger and Governor Brian Kemp, urging them to do whatever they could to swing the outcome of the Georgia election in his favour.

Heard by the Washington Post, the outgoing President is said to have continually repeated: "There's no way I lost Georgia.

"There's no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes," Trump reportedly said in what was described by the newspaper as an incoherent conversation full of ramblings.

Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has labelled the President's part in the call "certainly the voice of desperation".

Speaking at a campaign event for Democratic senate hopefuls Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Savannah, Georgia, yesterday, she said: "It was a bald, bald-faced, bold abuse of power by the president of the United States."

The Post reports Trump could be heard saying: "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.

"The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry and there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you've recalculated."

However, Raffensperger told him: "The challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong."

The secretary of state was told he was taking a "big risk" by not following Trump's orders, with the President attempting flattery and vague threats as Raffensperger stood firm.

He said Biden's victory in Georgia was fair and accurate and any notion otherwise had already been successfully debunked.

Biden Senior Advisor Bob Bauer said: "We now have irrefutable proof of a president pressuring and threatening an official of his own party to get him to rescind a state's lawful, certified vote count and fabricate another in its place."

In her speech in Savannah, Harris also accused Trump of trying to undermine Georgia's senate races as well.

"[Trump] called the Senate race in Georgia illegitimate…illegal and invalid … suggesting that the people of Georgia are trying to commit a crime," she said.

"They filed six lawsuits — not one, not two — six lawsuits trying to challenge your voice in that election. And they failed every time. And the people's voice remains standing."

Following news of his phone call, Trump claimed via Twitter : "Sorry, but the number of votes in the Swing States that we are talking about is VERY LARGE and totally OUTCOME DETERMINATIVE!

"Only the Democrats and some RINO'S would dare dispute this - even though they know it is true!

"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, & are therefore, before even getting to irregularities & fraud, UNCONSTITUTIONAL!"

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the phone call was an "impeachable offense", though admitted she had not listened to the full recording.

Prior to reports of the call, Trump had tweeted Raffensperger "has no clue" about whether voter fraud took place in Georgia.

"He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the 'ballots under table' scam, ballot destruction, out of state 'voters', dead voters, and more. He has no clue!' the President said.

He also tweeted warning Republicans of potential election fraud in Georgia as two Senate runoffs commence to determine control of the upper chamber.

"Republicans in Georgia must be careful of the political corruption in Fulton County, which is rampant. The Governor, @BrianKempGA, and his puppet Lt. Governor, @GeoffDuncanGA, have done less than nothing. They are a disgrace to the great people of Georgia!"Follow the Official Rokna NEWS Telegram Channel For More and fresh NEWS.

Mirror