Trump personally called two Republicans who now oppose certifying Detroit-area votes

GOP canvasser says she felt no pressure from president to change her vote

Donald Trump personally called two Republican canvassers in Michigan who are now attempting to withdraw their support for certifying Detroit-area votes.

Monica Palmer and William Hartmann initially opposed certifying the votes for Wayne County, but faced a torrent of condemnation and accusations of racism for doing so and backtracked.

The Associated Press reports that the president, who had praised their initial decision, reached out to them after the revised vote to thank them for their support, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“I did receive a call from President Trump, late Tuesday evening, after the meeting,” Ms Palmer told The Washington Post. “He was checking in to make sure I was safe after hearing the threats and doxing that had occurred.”

On Wednesday, both canvassers signed affidavits reversing course again saying that they were improperly pressured and that the county vote should not be certified, despite no evidence of fraud.

It is unclear whether they can do this under state law.

Ms Palmer told the Post that she and the president spoke for about two minutes and that she felt no pressure to change her vote.

In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the two canvassers said that they only voted to certify the results after “hours of sustained pressure”.

They say they were promised their concerns about the election would be investigated in an audit of the votes. It is unclear whether that promise was binding and whether the audit will go ahead.

“We deserve better — but more importantly, the American people deserve better — than to be forced to accept an outcome achieved through intimidation, deception, and threats of violence,” the statement reads. “Wayne County voters need to have full confidence in this process.”

Ms Palmer and Mr Hartmann initially voted against certification leaving the Wayne County Board of Canvassers deadlocked at 2-2 along party lines.

They complained that certain Detroit precincts were out of balance, meaning that absentee ballot books did not match the number of ballots cast.

This was attributed to human error by Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat and vice chair of the board, who added that it was “reckless and irresponsible” not to certify the results.

At a heated public meeting on Zoom after their initial decision, the two were lambasted by officials and angry members of the public.

Video of one denouncement in particular went viral when the pair were told that the “stain of racism” would follow them "throughout history".

Later, Yvonne White, president of the Michigan state conference of the NAACP described their actions as “racism, pure and simple”.

In a statement, she said: “It is no accident that these accusations are hurled against Wayne County; this is home to the City of Detroit and the largest concentration of Black voters in the state.”

Ms Palmer says that her intentions were the opposite and that any corrections would not alter the vote totals in the county and state in a way that might change the Biden victory.

Republicans have called the treatment of Ms Palmer and Mr Hartmann “mob rule”, something which Ms Palmer denies.

She told the Post: “There wasn’t mob rule,” but there was pressure to certify. She moved forward because of the promise of an audit of the votes.

Mr Kinloch says that he and Ms Palmer had agreed to prepare a joint letter to the Michigan secretary of state asking for an audit, and that by attempting to rescind their votes, the two Republicans were "playing with the vote and the will of the people”.

Joe Biden overwhelmed Mr Trump in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold, by more than a two-to-one margin and won Michigan by 146,000 votes.