According to a new report by The Washington Post, U.S. President Donald Trump called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives twice asking for assistance in changing his electoral loss in the state.
The winner of the U.S. presidential election, held on Nov. 3, is yet to be officially declared, but all major U.S. media outlets have named Democrat Joe Biden the winner.
Pennsylvania is the third state after Georgia and Michigan, where Trump has directly attempted to overturn the election results.
For Trump to win the election he will need to win the electoral college votes of those three states.
According to The Washington Post, the office of House Speaker confirmed calls between Trump and the Pennsylvania House speaker, Bryan Cutler (pictured below)
A person briefed on the matter said Trump pressed for the state’s legislature to replace the electors for President-elect Joe Biden with those loyal to Trump. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Cutler’s spokesperson, Mike Straub, says Trump did not pressure Cutler to take any sort of action; the call was informational.
Cutler and other top Republican lawmakers have said that, legally, the state legislature has no power to override the will of the voters and select a slate of presidential electors.
Trump also called on lawmakers in Georgia and Michigan to do the same, but they have all refused.
