Pro-Trump lawyer and conspiracy theorist Lin Wood clashes with Republicans at GOP meeting: ‘You’re a liar and a manipulator’

‘The Senate race was a rigged election – wake up and see it,’ attorney says during gathering

Lin Wood, an attorney who filed multiple unsuccessful court challenges to overturn Donald Trump’s presidential election loss, clashed with several Republicans at a meeting where he stated his case to be South Carolina’s new GOP chair.

On Sunday, several mask-free Republican members gathered inside a ballroom in South Carolina to hear Mr Wood discuss why at the state party convention next month they should pick him to replace current state GOP chair Drew McKissick.

Some members applauded every time Mr Wood falsely claimed that Mr Trump won November’s 2020’s presidential election at the event, while others stayed silent, according to a report by The Post and Courier.

“I did not come to divide you. I came to unite you and and grow your party,” Mr Wood reportedly said on Sunday as some challenged his false claims, while Charleston County GOP chair Maurice Washington reminded those gathered to respect different opinions.

However, the Courier reported that those arguments continued after Mr Wood concluded his speech on Sunday, as the pro-Trump attorney clashed with some GOP members gathered while exiting the ballroom.

The arguments were reportedly surrounding Mr Wood’s baseless claim that voting machines were rigged to help the Democrats win the election, a claim he repeatedly made last year as he aided Mr Trump’s fruitless attempts to overturn the election results.

Responding to Mr Wood’s claims of voter fraud, Charleston County Board of Elections employee Mary Ann Taylor stood up and said that local voting machines were not tampered with, according to the Courier.

Video footage posted to Twitter showed that during the arguments on Sunday, one man called the attorney “a liar and a manipulator,” with Mr Wood responding that he was “rude” and “ignorant of the facts”.

Mr Wood also fired back at two women, saying to one: “This was a rigged election, the Senate race was a rigged election – wake up and see it,” and claiming to another: “Ma’am, if I had gone out and gotten you 500,000 more voters, they would have gotten 500,001. They cheated! You cheat, you cheat.”

Mr McKissick, who has gained the support of Mr Trump in the state, was not present at the meeting on Sunday, as he had a prior engagement.

Mr Wood moved to South Carolina in February, purchasing a $16m (£11.6m) property in Beaufort County, and has since made the rounds attempting to convince people to elect him state GOP chair.

Following his attempts to aid Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, Mr Wood has amassed close to 900,000 followers on messaging app Telegram, a social media platform favoured by supporters of the former president.

The Independent has contacted Mr Wood and the Charleston County Republican Party for comment.