CLC President Discusses Continued GOP Election Lawsuits Even As Outcome Won’t Change

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Donald Trump speaking to a large group of masked members of the press who are holding microphones out towards him on boom poles and taking photos
President Donald J. Trump talks to members of the press along the South Lawn driveway of the White House Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour.

As we've passed the “safe harbor deadline” — the day when Electoral College votes are essentially “locked in” to be accepted by Congress — why are President Trump and the Republican Party continuing to challenge the presidential election outcome, even though it’s over? 

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) President Trevor Potter discussed this question recently with "PBS News Hour."

He reiterated that these lawsuits “have no chance of stopping the Electoral College from voting, and I think, from Congress accepting those results.” 

“They're best described as PR messages,” he said. 

Host William Brangham then asked Potter more broadly what he thought might be driving these ongoing lawsuits. 

Potter responded “...you have to say either he's being incredibly reckless in terms of refusing to accept that this is how people voted... or something more dangerous, which is, he's refusing to accept the result of the election personally and politically because it helps him to be seen to keep fighting, to raise money for his new political committee. 

At some stage, it becomes just an attempt to undermine the president-elect and to make Americans think that the result of this election is somehow not legitimate. And that's really dangerous for our democracy.” 

The problems we face as Americans are too great for us to remain divided. We have a duty as Americans to accept the results of the election, even if the candidate we supported didn’t win. We must move forward together to address the challenges our communities are experiencing. 

Watch the full interview. 

Bryan is an executive communications strategist at CLC.