The Pennsylvania Senate Republican caucus was invited to the White House for a lunch with President Trump that didn’t appear on the president’s daily schedule.
Four state senators confirmed that Sen. Doug Mastriano invited the caucus to Washington, D.C, for the lunch, according to Penn Live. All four have declined to attend.
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“You are cordially invited to join President Donald J. Trump at the White House for a luncheon on Wednesday, December 23 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern,” Mastriano’s email to the senators read. “Please find pertinent registration information and other details below, including COVID-19 arrival and testing protocols. Note that this invitation is non-transferable, and we are unable to accommodate additional guests, family members, or staff.”
Luzerne County’s Sen. Lisa Baker said that “nothing on the invitation gave any indication of the purpose” of the lunch, but it came just hours after the president posted another video message to social media in which he fired off more allegations of widespread voter fraud, called for audits in every race that used Dominion Voting Systems, and claimed that the Democratic Party and media had been “openly colluding” since he took office to “steal” the 2020 election from him.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for further comment.
Trump’s campaign and other Republican allies have suffered dozens of defeats in courts across the country, from circuit courts all the way up to the Supreme Court. Earlier this month, Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department had not found any evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Trump has embarked on other courses of action to snag victory out of the jaws of defeat. One is attempting to persuade state legislatures to overturn the results of the election and appoint pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College. Another is coordinating with conservative members of Congress who are planning a long-shot bid to contest President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory when the new session of Congress meets to certify the vote on Jan. 6.
In November, Trump invited Michigan’s Republican speaker of the House and Senate majority leader to the White House for a similar lunch, and earlier this month, the president met with 12 state attorneys general during a private lunch that focused on “issues important to their citizens and the country and ways to continue to advance the shared federal-state partnership.”
Biden secured more than 81 million votes to Trump’s 74 million, according to the Associated Press. Biden’s popular vote total is the most votes a presidential candidate has ever received. Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes. The state certified its results on Nov. 24.
