President Donald Trump must win Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes if he's to have any hope of clinching a second term, but the state is experiencing an election day—or election days—like no other.
Under Pennsylvania law, mail ballots cannot begin being processed until Election Day. With an unprecedented amount of pandemic-induced absentee ballots expected, Democrats implored the state's Republican legislature to suspend the rule and allow mail-in ballots to be processed sooner.
The Republicans in the state legislature refused, and now Pennsylvania's mail-in ballot results continue to trickle in two days after Election Day. Because of Trump's months-long smear campaign against the 100+ year old institution of voting by mail, most of these mail votes are expected to go to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
With nearly a million mail-in ballots left to count on Wednesday, Trump, his son Eric, and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany falsely claimed the President had won Pennsylvania.
While Trump began with a formidable lead in the state before mail-in ballots began being processed, his lead has since shrunk from 700 thousand to 200 thousand with many ballots left to count.
In an interview with the conservative Fox News network, McEnany said the Trump campaign would challenge the counting of mail-in ballots in the Supreme Court.
Watch below.
Kayleigh McEnany says if Trump loses PA they will go to the supreme court to get ballots mailed before or on election day thrown out pic.twitter.com/rNWA959Nwr
— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) November 5, 2020
McEnany said:
"We believe every vote on Election Day should be counted but it's those that arrive after the Election Day that we are fighting in court."
Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum were skeptical of McEnany's intentions, and reminded her that the Supreme Court last month allowed ballots postmarked by Election Day but received up to three days later can be counted.
People noticed that even Fox News hosts were doubtful.
I think the important part of this video isn't the flagrantly illiberal theory the Trump administration is selling, but the fact that the Fox News anchors aren't buying. https://t.co/zauokaYnji
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) November 5, 2020
wow i just discovered that i get turned on by watching fox news correct kaleigh pic.twitter.com/VOkwaiyERa
— karyn spencer (@KarynSpencer) November 5, 2020
Incredible. Even the Fox anchor seems stunned by the threat to have ballots cast on Election Day invalidated. Never forget what these people were willing to do. https://t.co/YQIQ4asRdX
— Christian Vanderbrouk (@UrbanAchievr) November 5, 2020
Assuming whoever wrote her talking points did not think that Fox News would ask the most basic of follow-up questions. https://t.co/OInANqLNkL
— Nathalie Baptiste (@nhbaptiste) November 5, 2020
Even Fox News has no time for the nonsense being spread by the Propaganda Secretary who is unable to grasp the difference between two different activities: 1) voting and 2) the counting of votes.#Pennsylvannia pic.twitter.com/ru13MTHriX
— MURRAY (@murray_nyc) November 5, 2020
People found the Trump campaign's determination to upend the election disturbing.
Tyrants hate democracy. https://t.co/lanTWwTQNY
— laura lie (@_lauralie) November 5, 2020
If we lose, we're going to cheat and declare victory. https://t.co/oPrDaH8TIj
— Earth (@TakeThatEarth) November 5, 2020
It's simple. We are seeking to change the rules after the game is over. Easy peasy and we believe the Supreme Court will agree. https://t.co/exELcrZzPJ
— Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) November 5, 2020
At this point, it would be pretty insane for Democrats to legitimize and work across the aisle in the Senate with representatives of this authoritarian political party regardless of the results, no? https://t.co/4HmqTGa3fS
— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) November 5, 2020
Ballots continue to be counted in Pennsylvania, and the results may not be known until Friday or later.
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
@CNN/Instagram
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images