Dead Republican Antivaxxer Returns to Make Headlines

On a Nov. 17, 2020, phone call, which also involved Republican National Committee Trump told Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, the two GOP Wayne County canvassers, they'd look "terrible" if they signed the documents after they first voted in opposition and then later in the same meeting voted to approve certification of the county’s election results, according to the recordings.

"We've got to fight for our country," said Trump on the recordings, made by a person who was present for the call with Palmer and Hartmann. "We can't let these people take our country away from us." 

“I distinctly remember coming home that evening feeling completely defeated. We knew about the pressure not to certify (though until tonight I did not know about the recording),” Benson wrote Thursday night. “We were prepared to go to court to successfully ensure certification at the local and state level - and we were confident we’d win in court. But blocking certification in Wayne County and pushing this to the courts would still delay and create enough doubt and uncertainty to enable the Trump campaign to push Pennsylvania, which was certifying the next week, to delay as well. And we knew other dominos would fall after that.”

But then, she added, “something I’ll never forget happened,” adding: “hundreds … of citizens showed up to the meeting of the Wayne County Canvassing Board to remind them of their duty under the law to ensure their votes counted. Their voices mattered. Their votes mattered.”

“In my view that turned the tide,” Benson continued. “Citizens and election officials in Wayne County and statewide didn’t flinch, stood firm, and demanded their votes be certified as required under the law. And in the end, the Wayne County Canvassing board fulfilled their legal duty, followed the law and certified the election. What started as the lowest moment of the post election melee became the most inspiring. The voters won. Facts and the rule of law carried the day. Democracy prevailed.”