Just hours after former President Donald Trump was indicted in Georgia over his attempt to disrupt the 2020 election, Trump announced he’ll hold a news conference to once again push baseless claims that the election was rigged.
“A Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia is almost complete & will be presented by me at a major News Conference at 11:00 A.M. Monday of next week, in Bedminster, New Jersey,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday. “Based on the results of this CONCLUSIVE report, all charges should be dropped against me & others — There will be a complete EXONERATION!”
Independent experts have found no evidence of widespread problems in 2020 voting in Georgia, a state that President Joe Biden won in an upset, or in any other state. An outside research firm that Trump hired to corral evidence for his claims was unable to verify them. And top Republicans have publicly and privately urged Trump to acknowledge that his allegations of voter fraud that year have no basis.
Brian Kemp, the Republican governor of Georgia, responded to Trump’s announcement by defending his state’s election process and warning that “the future of our country is at stake in 2024 and that must be our focus.”
“The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen,” Kemp tweeted. “For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward – under oath – and prove anything in a court of law. Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair and will continue to be as long as I am governor.”
But Trump is still refusing to acknowledge that he lost — even as his schemes to deny that loss and remain in power have now led to charges from both federal and state prosecutors.
“They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that found to find the RIGGERS!” Trump continued in his Tuesday post.
Georgia prosecutors noted that Trump’s election lies put people’s lives at risk, highlighting the state election workers who faced death threats. Meanwhile, the federal indictment from special counsel Jack Smith cited Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress, which led to at least seven deaths.
Top Trump allies are also in legal jeopardy in the two cases related to the 2020 election, which will play out in Georgia and Washington in the months ahead. The group includes Rudy Giuliani, a longtime Trump adviser; Mark Meadows, his former White House chief of staff; and several right-wing attorneys, including Sidney Powell and John Eastman.
Trump is seeking another term as president while contesting the 2020 cases and two other indictments alleging his mishandling of classified documents and his bid to hide an extramarital affair.
He remains the front-runner in the GOP’s 2024 primary race, with most of his opponents echoing his assertions that he is being unfairly targeted.