President Trump, who still refuses to concede to President-elect Joe Biden despite how his legal battles contesting the legitimacy of the election process have fallen flat, appeared to call up Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) as the governor certified the battleground state’s election results on Monday.
Arizona’s certification of its election results on Monday handed the state’s 11 electoral votes to Biden and cemented the swearing-in of Senator-elect Mark Kelly, a Democrat who defeated Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ), this week.
Ducey, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel (all of whom are Republican) witnessed secretary of state Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, certify the state’s election results as required by state law.
After Hobbs said that the elections process was the most secure in recent history, “despite unfounded claims to the contrary,” Ducey echoed her praise of the state’s election system and said that he would sign official documentation on Monday so that Kelly “can be sworn in as swiftly as possible.”
Brahm Resnik, a reporter for KPNX-TV in Arizona, noticed a peculiar incident that happened while Ducey certified the state’s election results.
Last July, Ducey told reporters that he changed his ringtone to “Hail to the Chief” to alert him when the White House is calling.
Resnik noted that specific ringtone was heard while Ducey was in the middle of certifying the state’s results. The Arizona governor appeared to silence the call:
HE'LL GET BACK TO YOU Back in July, Gov. Ducey said he changed his White House ringtone to "Hail to The Chief" so he wouldn't miss a call from Trump/Pence. Guess who called while Ducey was certifying Arizona's election? (7 secs in) pic.twitter.com/bzBGpfSIDf
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) November 30, 2020
On Monday, Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis were in Arizona as they met with some GOP members of the state’s legislature to discuss baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud. The Trumpworld’s flailing attempts at challenging the election results clearly didn’t prevent the battleground state from certifying its election results.
The sitting president himself took aim at Ducey shortly after the Arizona governor certified the state’s election results:
Why is he rushing to put a Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now. @OANN What is going on with @dougducey? Republicans will long remember! https://t.co/XILGaHcyw7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2020
TRUE! https://t.co/GaldE1fto5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2020
On the night of the presidential election earlier this month, Fox News became the first network to project that Biden had won Arizona. Days later, the Washington Post reported that Fox News’ projection of Biden taking Arizona brought Trump campaign’s election night party to a halt.
A senior administration official told the Post that Trump angrily demanded that campaign officials “get that result changed.”
TPM reached out to the Ducey’s office and the White House for comment.
