President Trump is losing the support of top Republicans as he continues to demand a halt to vote counts around the country, leaving him increasingly isolated at the White House and reliant on the support of family members and a core of senior advisers.
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania was the latest to break ranks on Friday morning. His state is one of the last battlegrounds to be declared, and he said he has seen no evidence to support the president’s claim of fraud.
“The president’s speech last night was very disturbing to me because he made very, very serious allegations without any evidence to support it,” he told CBS This Morning.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are among the senior figures to break with Trump on his demands that the count be stopped.
The president stepped up his claims on Thursday night, using the White House briefing room to accuse his opponents of trying to “fix” the election. He offered no evidence to support his claims. On Tuesday, Trump shot out to early leads in key states, such as Georgia and Pennsylvania, but he has seen his ballot numbers overtaken by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as mail-in ballots are counted.
Christie, an ally of Trump, has accused him of inflaming “without informing.”
“We heard nothing today about any evidence,” Christie said on ABC after the president’s address. “This kind of thing, all it does is inflame without informing. And we cannot permit inflammation without information.”
Trump spoke for 17 minutes in front of the press on Thursday evening, reading notes from a binder, to claim election victory once again. He complained about “suppression” polls misleading the public and corruption in Democratic cities, including Detroit and Philadelphia.
He claimed to be the victim of a “big media, big money, and big tech” conspiracy.
Several TV networks cut away from his speech to offer fact-checking commentary on his words.
Trump’s campaign has kept up a vigorous commentary, mounting legal challenges in Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and complaining that Arizona was prematurely called for Biden.
Matthew Morgan, Trump 2020 campaign general counsel, said: “Biden is relying on these states for his phony claim on the White House, but once the election is final, President Trump will be reelected.”
The response from congressional Republicans has angered the Trump team. The president’s son Eric Trump demanded they show “backbone,” while Donald Trump Jr. condemned potential 2024 candidates for what he said was a lack of action.
Where are Republicans! Have some backbone. Fight against this fraud. Our voters will never forget you if your sheep! https://t.co/jLzOIJbrwV
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) November 5, 2020
“They have a perfect platform to show that they’re willing and able to fight but they will cower to the media mob instead,” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted.
Since then, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham announced he was donating $500,000 to the president’s legal fund, and the president can count on the support of the likes of Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida.
But the noise coming from the White House has alarmed many congressional Republicans, who enjoyed a better-than-expected election after an anticipated blue wave failed to materialize.
A senior GOP source on the Hill said Republicans should be feeling good about multiple surprise victories.
“Instead, many are once again stuck defending a man making outrageous, unsupported claims,” said the source. “Trump doesn’t care about lighting his credibility on fire because he has none. Other people do and would prefer to keep it.”
Jeanne Zaino, a professor of political science at Iona College, said much of the frustration remains private among Republicans who fear upsetting or offending the Trump base.
“I do wonder if the dam is going to burst if this thing is called for Joe Biden,” she said.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted that the president’s claims of fraud were “getting insane” and urged him to “stop spreading debunked misinformation.”
And McConnell, a close Trump ally, told reporters that “claiming you’ve won the election is different from finishing the counting.”
