Trump calls on Supreme Court to 'have the courage' to overturn Biden's election victory

President Donald Trump brought his bid to subvert the 2020 election to a new low Tuesday, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court and legislatures in a handful of battleground states to “have the courage” to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Speaking at a White House event that was supposed to focus on COVID-19 vaccine distribution, Trump falsely insisted he won the Nov. 3 election and claimed Biden was only crowned the victor because of “terrible” voter fraud.

“Let’s see whether or not somebody has the courage — whether it’s legislatures or a justice of the Supreme Court or a number of justices of the Supreme Court — let’s see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right,” Trump said. “If somebody has the courage, I know who the next administration will be.”

Trump has privately pressured governors and legislators in Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania to undo Biden’s wins and his campaign is actively seeking to get election challenges before the U.S. Supreme Court, but Tuesday’s remarks ranked among his most direct public calls for intervention.

Despite Trump’s repeated claims of fraud, no evidence has emerged to suggest Biden’s election victory was facilitated by foul play.

In fact, most states, including the six battlegrounds where Trump’s trying to flip Biden’s victories, have certified their results. Courts across the country have also dismissed a flurry of baseless lawsuits from Trump’s campaign.

While falsely maintaining he won, Trump also sought at Tuesday’s event to claim credit for the COVID-19 vaccine distribution that will take place under Biden’s presidency.

“Whichever the next administration is will benefit from this,” he said. “The work that has been done is incredible and hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration.”

Tuesday put another nail in Trump’s electoral coffin in that it marked the so-called “safe harbor” deadline to wrap up all state-level election challenges, including recounts, audits and lawsuits. The deadline is meant to bring uncertainty to an end ahead of the Electoral College certification, which will take place on Dec. 14 this year.

Trump could — and likely will — continue federal challenges, though he’s all but certain to fail, with election officials in all 50 states attesting to the accuracy of the Nov. 3 vote.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considered unlikely to entertain any challenge that would subvert Biden’s victory — since that would require the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of voters — but Trump is hoping that the bench’s newly-cemented 6-3 conservative majority will have his back.

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