Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election
After Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election,[6] Republican nominee and then-incumbent president Donald Trump pursued an unprecedented[7][8] effort to overturn the election,[a] with support and assistance from his campaign, proxies, political allies, and many of his supporters. These efforts culminated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack by Trump supporters, which was widely described as an attempted coup d'état.[20][21][22][23] One week later, Trump was impeached for incitement of insurrection but was acquitted by the Senate by a vote of 57–43, 10 votes short of the 67 votes (two-thirds of the Senate) required to convict him.
Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election
- Main phase: November 4, 2020[1] – January 7, 2021 (2 months and 3 days)
- Post-certification: January 7, 2021[2] – present (3 years, 3 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)
Fabricated claims of electoral fraud by Donald Trump[3][4][5]
To overturn the results of the 2020 United States presidential election and install Donald Trump as president.
- Big lie
- Legal challenges
- Conspiracy (according to federal indictment)
- Racketeering (according to Georgia indictment)
9
Trump and his allies used the "big lie" propaganda technique to promote numerous false claims and conspiracy theories asserting that the election was stolen by means of rigged voting machines, electoral fraud and an international communist conspiracy.[b] Trump pressed Department of Justice leaders to challenge the election results and publicly state the election was corrupt.[33][34][35] However, the attorney general, the director of National Intelligence, and the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – as well as some Trump campaign staff – dismissed these claims. State and federal judges, election officials, and state governors also determined that the claims were baseless.[36][37][38][39]
Trump loyalists, including Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and several Republican lawmakers from the House Freedom Caucus, attempted to keep Trump in power. At the state level, their tactics targeted state legislatures with the intent of changing the results or delaying the electoral vote certification at the Capitol.[40] At the national level, they promoted the idea that Vice President Mike Pence could refuse to certify the election results on January 6, 2021. Consequently, hundreds of elected Republicans, including members of Congress and governors, have refused to acknowledge Biden's victory;[41] a few have since decided to acknowledge it.[42][43]
Trump's legal team sought a path to bring a case before the Supreme Court, but none of the 63 lawsuits they filed were successful.[44][45][46][47] They especially pinned their hopes on Texas v. Pennsylvania, but on December 11, 2020, the Supreme Court declined to hear that case.[48] After that, Trump reportedly considered multiple ways to remain in power, including military intervention, seizing voting machines, and another appeal to the Supreme Court.[49][50][51]
In June 2022, the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack said it had enough evidence to recommend that the Department of Justice indict Trump,[52] and on December 19, the committee formally made the criminal referral to the Justice Department.[53] On August 1, 2023, Trump was indicted by a D.C. grand jury for conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights;[54] he pleaded not guilty to all four charges.[55] On August 14, Trump and 18 co-defendants, including lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Jeffrey Clark and Kenneth Chesebro, and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, were indicted in Fulton County, Georgia for their efforts to overturn the election results in that state.[56][57] Ten leaders of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups have been convicted of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Capitol attack.[58]
Trump continues to insist that the election was stolen,[59] telling a group of historians in mid-2021 that the election was "rigged and lost",[60] and publicly stating in August 2022 that he should be declared the president or a new election should be held "immediately".[61] As late as 2022, Trump supporters continued their attempts to overturn the election results, pushing for state legislature resolutions and new lawsuits, raising concerns among legal experts that public confidence in democracy is being undermined to lay the groundwork for baselessly challenging future elections.[62]
Later developments
Taxpayer costs
According to a Washington Post assessment published February 6, 2021, Trump's falsehoods about fraud had cost taxpayers more than half a billion dollars in spending to enhance security, resolve legal disputes and repair property, among other things.[477]
