Then-President Donald Trump mocked Georgia election officials who received death threats during their attempt to overturn the 2020 election result, even saying they deserved the vitriol. The Daily Beast reported.
As part of his attempts to change the outcome of the election, Trump had called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2 and pressed him to "found 11,780 votes"To overcome Joe Biden's victory. Raffensperger had rejected the call and did not accept those demands.
At the same time, Trump and his allies had been criticizing poll workers and some officials received a wave of violent threats.
On December 1, 2020, Gabriel Sterling, Georgia Voting System Implementation Manager, went on television to plead for "death threats, physical threats, intimidation" to end.
In the wake of the January 2 phone call, Raffensperger also said his wife had received death threats.
According to The Daily Beast, Trump was briefed on the threats several times, but was unmoved and even took it lightly.
"There was a time I heard [Trump] suggest that they may be exaggerating the type of threats they were receiving. But more often, he made fun of them and said they were bad people who were getting what they deserved, "a former official told the outlet.
Another person close to Trump also told The Daily Beast that Trump commented that if officials wanted the threats to end, they simply had to grant his wish.
Trump also praised those who issued the threats, calling them "my people," the source said, according to The Daily Beast.
Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Death threats sent to officials include promises to "make the Boston bombings look like child's play," The Daily Beast reported.
Reuters reported that in April, Raffensperger's wife, Tricia, received text messages saying "You and your family will be killed very slowly" and "We plan for your death and that of your family every day."
Trump and his campaign went to court to challenge election results in various states, and all of them have failed. He and his allies still maintain that the elections were stolen from him.
Read the original article at Business Insider
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