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US president Donald Trump has already made some controversial commitments which rely on the Republican Party retaining control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate (such as the “Trump dividend” and Camp Lejeune compensation claims), but now his administration has gone one step further and has sued to block the certification of an election result in Alaska – but only if his party loses.
The argument hinges on the existence of both the incumbent GOP senator, Daniel S. Sullivan, and a Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot, which might cause voters to “inadvertently vote” for the wrong candidate.
“To guard against this danger, it is vital that Defendants not certify any election result that may be impacted by voter confusion,” government attorneys wrote in court filings on Friday.
On the same day that the lawsuit was filed, Trump told reporters: “I’m the one that said ‘do it’. They have two Dan Sullivans.”
The move has been slammed online, with Angry Staffer writing: “In any normal world, this lawsuit would be met with universal condemnation”:
“It begins,” commented Ben Rhodes of the Pod Save the World podcast:
MMA journalist Ben Fowlkes said: “‘It’s all rigged unless we win’ has become Republican standard practice and that’s a pretty big problem for the whole project of democracy tbh!”:
Majid Padellan, known online as Brooklyn Dad Defiant, wrote: “Republicans are such sore losers, they're ALREADY planning to block certification in elections they haven't even lost yet, like in Alaska. That's why it's so important to get everyone you know to vote early, to make these midterm results TOO BIG TO RIG”:
And another account warned: “America didn't learn from first trump term. Allowed him to escape accountability. Bad things coming”:
Petolta herself responded to the reports by writing on her X/Twitter account that “this is the corruption AK is fed up with, and it’s why I’m in this race”.
Meanwhile Nate Adams, a spokesperson for Senator Sullivan’s campaign, said they will “let the DOJ complaint run its course”.
“Alaskans can tell the difference between a Democrat sideshow and Senator Sullivan’s strong record of delivering for Alaska, a record he’ll keep building on for the next six years,” he said.
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