Members of former President George W. Bush’s legal team during the 2000 election claimed this week that President Donald Trump has no chance of success in his own attempts to challenge the 2020 election results.
Several of people involved with the Bush campaign’s efforts to halt a recount in Florida — a move that cemented Bush as the winner of the 2000 election over his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Al Gore — told Bloomberg that the Trump campaign’s claims lack the “specificity” required.
“You can’t just say, ‘This election’s tainted, throw it out,’” Benjamin Ginsberg, the 2000 Bush campaign’s national counsel, said. “You have to have some specificity, and so far, they’re sorely lacking in specificity. Their airplane crashed on takeoff because they forgot to add fuel.”
There is no way for the courts to overturn enough votes across four states without “disenfranchising many thousands of voters,” said Barry Richard, who led the Bush campaign’s legal efforts in Florida.
Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits in several key swing states, including Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, and Arizona, in an attempt to delay the certification of these states’ results.
A few of these lawsuits have already been denied by the courts or abandoned by Trump’s attorneys.
“I do believe the election is over,” Ted Olson, who led Bush’s efforts at the Supreme Court, said at an event last week, according to Bloomberg. “We do have a new president.”
The Trump campaign has, however, seen some success.
In Nevada, for example, the Clark County Commission threw out the results of a down-ballot race because of the many discrepancies “that we can’t explain that would cast a doubt on whether or not that margin of victory is solid.”
Big victory moments ago in the State of Nevada. The all Democrat County Commissioner race, on same ballot as President, just thrown out because of large scale voter discrepancy. Clark County officials do not have confidence in their own election security. Major impact! https://t.co/TLHnFKNN6g
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2020
