Trump allegedly pressured Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey after 2020 election

Former President Donald Trump reportedly tried to pressure then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to overturn election results in the state in 2020, according to new allegations.

Trump narrowly lost Arizona by about 10,000 votes, and he has disputed the loss in the years since. But investigations into alleged wrongdoing in the 2020 election in Arizona found no evidence of widespread fraud.

In late 2020, Trump allegedly called Ducey and encouraged him to look into his claims of fraud, sources told The Washington Post. Trump also reportedly asked then-Vice President Mike Pence to call Ducey and pressure him, according to the Post.

In a statement, a Ducey spokesperson downplayed reporting about the alleged phone call as not new or news.

“This is neither new nor is it news to anyone following the issue the last two years,” spokesman Daniel Scarpinato told the Post. “Gov. Ducey defended the results of Arizona’s 2020 election, he certified the election, and he made it clear that the certification provided a trigger for credible complaints backed by evidence to be brought forward. None were ever brought forward. The governor stands by his action to certify the election and considers the issue to be in the rearview mirror.”

When Ducey certified the results on Nov. 30, 2020, which showed that President Joe Biden won Arizona, his phone went off with “Hail to the Chief,” which he previously said he used as Trump’s ringtone because he didn’t want to miss a call from the White House.

Ducey at the time said he called Trump back after but declined to publicly share details about the call beyond saying, “the president has got an inquisitive mind and when he calls he’s always got a lot of questions, and I give him honest answers, direct feedback and my opinion when it’s necessary and that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

The new reporting suggests parallels in how Trump allegedly pressured Ducey and what he said in a recorded call to another swing state Republican elected official, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In audio of his call with Raffensperger, Trump asked him to “find” enough votes to flip Georgia and made false claims of election fraud.

Ducey did not record his call with Trump, sources told the Post.

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Trump, who has been indicted by federal law enforcement for his handling of classified documents and was also charged in New York, is facing an investigation in Georgia for allegedly pressuring Raffensperger to overturn the election results.

Ducey isn’t the only Arizona Republican to say Trump called asking for help after he lost the state: former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers said Trump and others called him about not certifying Arizona’s 2020 results, during his testimony in front of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol last year.