03-16-2021, 07:56 PM
The transcript of the conversation has been available since Jan 2.
Trump never used the term "find these votes", but he said basically the same thing with "work out these numbers". And he did not use the term "national hero" but instead "really respected. The Post was wrong not to use exact quotes, but it is not like the story was a blatant lie. It is just quibbling over semantics. Here is the direct quote.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/03/politics/trump-brad-raffensperger-phone-call-transcript/index.html
TRUMP: ". . . And you would be respected. Really respected, if this thing could be straightened out before the election. You have a big election coming up on Tuesday. And therefore I think that it is really important that you meet tomorrow and work out on these numbers. Because I know Brad that if you think we're right, I think you're going to say, and I'm not looking to blame anybody. I'm just saying you know, and, you know, under new counts, and under uh, new views, of the election results, we won the election. You know? It's very simple. We won the election."
Earlier in the conversation Trump repeatedly accused Georgia Sec of State George Raffensperger of criminal activity. It was clearly an attempt to intimidate him.
Trump never used the term "find these votes", but he said basically the same thing with "work out these numbers". And he did not use the term "national hero" but instead "really respected. The Post was wrong not to use exact quotes, but it is not like the story was a blatant lie. It is just quibbling over semantics. Here is the direct quote.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/03/politics/trump-brad-raffensperger-phone-call-transcript/index.html
TRUMP: ". . . And you would be respected. Really respected, if this thing could be straightened out before the election. You have a big election coming up on Tuesday. And therefore I think that it is really important that you meet tomorrow and work out on these numbers. Because I know Brad that if you think we're right, I think you're going to say, and I'm not looking to blame anybody. I'm just saying you know, and, you know, under new counts, and under uh, new views, of the election results, we won the election. You know? It's very simple. We won the election."
Earlier in the conversation Trump repeatedly accused Georgia Sec of State George Raffensperger of criminal activity. It was clearly an attempt to intimidate him.
