After Trump meeting, Michigan GOP lawmakers affirmed Biden will win the state and urged Trump to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging the US
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- After a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, Republican lawmakers from Michigan said they "have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan."
- The lawmakers released a joint statement following the meeting, saying they used the time to tell the president that Michigan is in need of federal aid to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
- They also said Michigan's electoral votes would go to the candidate who received the most votes, affirming President-elect Joe Biden would win the state.
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After a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, Republican lawmakers from Michigan said they "have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan."
Trump invited the majority leader of the Michigan State Senate, Mike Shirkey, and the Michigan House speaker, Lee Chatfield, to Washington as part of his attempts to subvert the will of voters and overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The lawmakers released a joint statement after the meeting, saying they used their time with Trump to tell the president Michigan is in need of federal aid to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. They said they delivered a letter to the president and leaders in Congress to request that more federal funds be made available.
In addition to saying they do not have information that would change the election results, the statement said "we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors."
The president and his allies have reportedly tried to stop or slow the certification of results in battleground states in an attempt to have lawmakers appoint pro-Trump electors who would simply cast their votes for Trump in contradiction of the state's popular vote.
"Michigan's certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation," the statement read. "And the candidates who win the most votes win elections and Michigan's electoral votes."
Trump received swift criticism for his invite to the Michigan GOP lawmakers.
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said the president had "now resorted to overt pressure on state and local officials to subvert the will of the American people."
In their request for more federal COVID-19 aid, Shirkey and Chatfield reminded Trump how funds distributed earlier in the year through the CARES Act were used to "support front line workers, improve testing, ensure adequate PPE, provide additional support to out-of-work Michiganders, and deliver assistance to local businesses that are struggling through no fault of their own."
"We once again face a time in our state when additional support would go a long way."
The federal government has not passed additional coronavirus relief since the spring, while COVID-19 surges nationwide as the US braces for winter and officials introduce new lockdown measures to control the spread.
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