The Trump Campaign’s legal team held a lengthy press conference on the status of litigation and its arguments on fraudulent activity surrounding the election. They faced harsh coverage from mainstream and conservative media.
Summary
Former New York City Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani alleged a “scheme” by election officials of several heavily-Democratic cities in battleground states to increase the number of votes Joe Biden received.
- Jenna Ellis, part of the Trump campaign’s senior legal team, described their press conference as a “brief description” of their legal case according to a Politico article that also characterized the announcement as “more campaign farce than cogent legal argument.”
- The Houston Chronicle reported the Trump campaign’s claims rely on sworn affidavits made by poll watchers alleging “innuendo and unsupported suggestions of fraud.”
- Some of the allegations regarding Michigan mentioned by Giuliani were previously found to be “incorrect and not credible” by a Wayne County judge.
- The press conference comes as top Republican lawmakers in Michigan are set to meet with President Trump as the state certification of Michigan’s results looms.
- The Associated Press fact-checked some of the allegations from the press conference while noting in a separate report errors and “sloppiness” of the Trump campaign’s legal team.
- Giuliani’s reference of the movie ‘My Cousin Vinny’ was one of several aspects of the press conference to draw attention on social media.
- CNN’s coverage of the Trump campaign’s allegations focused on efforts by their fact-checking team, and called the press conference “wild” and “fact-free.”
- The Daily Beast leaned in on histrionics and hyperbole, calling the latest legal efforts “trying to kill American Democracy.”
- The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler editorialized his fact-check, calling the press conference “bonkers” and “the craziest news conference of the Trump presidency.”
- Fox News’ reporting highlighted the press conference’s allegations are a sharp turn from the arguments that have so far been made by Trump lawyers in actual court proceedings.
- The Daily Caller, co-founded by now-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, reported Trump lawyer Sidney Powell “refused to provide his show evidence” of the campaign’s claims.
- The Daily Mail reported Chris Krebs, the recently-terminated former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, called it “the most dangerous one hour and 45 minutes of television in American history.”
- National Review was slightly more generous in its reporting, saying Giuliani wasn’t revealing their evidence because those who signed affidavits “don’t want to be harassed.”
- Byron York of the Washington Examiner reported on turmoil within Trump world that Giuliani helming the recount and legal fights are doing more harm than good.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2020
