Donald Trump’s attempts to reverse the story at CNN City Hall on Wednesday took an egregious turn when he denied pressuring a Georgia election official to “get” him votes. (Check out the video below.)
The former president, who tried to overturn the 2020 election results in this swing state to back his lie that his defeat was rigged, was caught on tape telling Georgia Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger in January 2021: “I just want to find 11,780 votes, that’s one more than us because we won the state and the overthrow of the state is a great testament to our country.”
When CNN host Kaitlan Collins announced there would be charges over Trump’s alleged election interference in Georgia, Trump said he was questioning the election and insisting the call was “normal” and “perfect.”
“You asked him to find your voices,” Collins said.
“I didn’t ask him to find anything,” Trump said.
Collins: We heard the tape, Mr. President. There is an audio recording asking him to find you about 11,000 votes.”
Trump: I said you owe me votes because the election was rigged. This election was rigged. And if that call was bad, why didn’t he and his lawyers hang up? How dare you say that? That was a perfect call.”
Trump continued to be evasive, and Collins reminded him that there was no evidence of voter fraud in Georgia.
Trump, the Republican frontrunner for 2024, spent the night reconsidering his falsehoods about the 2020 election and his role in instigating a violent attempt to reverse his defeat in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The former president was recently charged with paying hush money to a porn star and found liable in a lawsuit alleging the sexual abuse of a woman at a department store. In addition to the Georgia criminal investigation, the US Attorney General is investigating Trump over the riot and mishandling of confidential documents he took to Mar-a-Lago.
