President Trump wants a list of names compiled by The Washington Post of congressional Republicans who say Joe Biden won the presidential election.
The Post reached out to all 249 GOP members of Congress to conduct a survey. The Post asked each Republican lawmaker which candidate they believe won the election, if they support the president's efforts to challenge the results, and whether or not they would accept Joe Biden as the legitimate winner should Biden win a majority in the electoral college.
Not sure if The Post conducted a similar survey of Democratic lawmakers in 2016, many of whom accused the Trump campaign of colluding with Russia to become president.
The Post reported that 26, since updated from 25, of the Republicans surveyed said that Joe Biden won the election.
Trump responded to the news on Twitter by expressing shock over the number of "RINOS" in Congress and asked The Post to send him the list of names.
25, wow! I am surprised there are so many. We have just begun to fight. Please send me a list of the 25 RINOS. I read the Fake News Washington Post as little as possible! https://t.co/cEBM0bYuQ9
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2020
A short time earlier, the president tweeted that he would win the State of Georgia if Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) or Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger (R) would permit a signature verification of the ballots.
I will easily & quickly win Georgia if Governor @BrianKempGA or the Secretary of State permit a simple signature verification. Has not been done and will show large scale discrepancies. Why are these two “Republicans” saying no? If we win Georgia, everything else falls in place!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2020
Gov. Kemp told Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Thursday that he has called for a signature audit but claims the power to issue such an order resides with the secretary of state.
President Trump has been critical of Gov. Kemp's and Sec. of State Raffensperger's reluctance to aggressively pursue claims of voter fraud in Georgia. Trump told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo in his first television interview since the election that he is ashamed of himself for endorsing Gov. Kemp in his 2018 gubernatorial bid against Democrat Stacey Abrams.
Raffensperger recently announced The New Georgia Project, a group founded by Stacey Abrams and formerly headed by Georgia Democrat Senate candidate Raphael Warnock, is currently under investigation for allegedly sending mail-in ballots to non-residents and other ineligible voters in the 2020 election.
"Voting in Georgia when you are not a resident of Georgia is a felony," Raffensperger said. "These third-party groups have a responsibility to not encourage illegal voting. If they do so, they will be held responsible."
President Trump is holding a campaign rally later in the day for Georgia Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R) and David Perdue (R).