PHOENIX — After Arizona officials, including Republican Governor Doug Ducey, certified the election in Arizona on Tuesday, President Donald Trump is not happy with Ducey.
Ducey and Secretary of State Katie Hobbs certified the election in Arizona even as lawyers for the president were across town Monday arguing to nine Republican lawmakers that the election was marred by fraud.
President-elect Joe Biden won Arizona by 0.3% of the nearly 3.4 million ballots cast, a margin of just under 10,500 votes. He’s the second Democrat in 70 years to win the state.
The certification also paves the way for Democrat Mark Kelly to take his seat in the U.S. Senate, formalizing his victory in a special election to replace the late John McCain. Kelly is scheduled to be sworn in on Wednesday in Washington.
Arizona is one of numerous states the president and his legal team have zeroed in on for unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud.
Gov. Ducey certifying the election immediately led to public resentment by President Trump, who agreed with a tweet that said Ducey had "betrayed the people of Arizona."
The same president who had commended Gov. Ducey in the spring for the way he had been handling the spread of COVID-19 in Arizona and who brought the governor out for numerous campaign stops just months ago, is now voicing disapproval.
President Trump also tweeted more unsubstantiated claims about voting in Arizona and this about Ducey certifying the election: "Why is he rushing to put a Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now?...What is going on with @dougducey? Republicans will long remember."
While certifying the election, Ducey may have received a phone call from the president himself, and silenced his phone. Team 12's Brahm Resnik explained:
Furthermore, Trump called into the hearings going on at a hotel in Phoenix and told the crowd he was going to fight back, saying "Arizona will not forget what Ducey just did."
Ducey had advocated since Election Day that all the votes in Arizona be counted and that all parties should have their "day in court" regarding legal proceedings by both the Trump campaign and other candidates, but said he would respect the results of the election when that process is over.
After certifying on Monday, Ducey said, "I’m grateful to the voters, the county election offices, the county recorders’ offices, & the poll workers across the state for their dedication to the success of our election system."
Ducey later put out a 9-tweet thread defending Arizona's election and explaining why he certified.