Plot to Overturn the 2020 Presidential Election

The Plot to Overturn the 2020 Presidential Election was an attempt by the incumbent President Donald J. Trump and his allies to reverse the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election in which he lost to his political rival, Joseph R. Biden.

This included legally challenging election results from individual states on the basis of election fraud, calling for recounts in toss-up states he lost, pressuring Governors and state officials to not certify their results, and inciting an insurrection against the government during the ceremonial Counting of the Electoral Votes by Congress.

Election Fraud
Donald Trump claimed that the Democrats had "stolen" the election from him and that he was the true winner. He spread misinformation about the security and legitimacy of the election, citing election fraud, glitched voting machines, and other conspiracies as the likely cause of his loss. Most local and state officials rejected these claims, however, and all of the states where the results were contested threw out the lawsuits filed by Trump's legal team. These states also certified their results and sent them to Washington D.C where they would be counted in the ceremonial Counting of the Electoral Votes.

Calling for Recounts and Contesting the Results
Following the Associated Press' projection that Joe Biden had won the election, President Donald Trump's legal team immediately filed dozens of lawsuits against several states, including Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. In court, they laid out their evidence of election fraud, but all of their cases were dismissed due to the fact that their evidence was purely circumstantial and mostly guesswork. The courts did not like the fact that the Trump Administration was trying to "disenfranchise" millions of voters that had cast their votes legally.

Trump also called for recounts in the toss-up states that he lost, but even after the states were recounted it was obvious that Joe Biden was still the winner.

Asking Republican Officials to Overturn their Results
Donald Trump and his allies frequently tried to pressure Republican officials in states he lost to not certify their election results and to throw out ballots. He asked the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "throw out" Biden votes so that he could be declared the winner of the state. Having faith in his state's election process and no ability to do, Raffensperger refused. He also contacted state lawmakers in Michigan and asked them to object to the results, but the state ended up certifying their results regardless. The White House also attempted to call the Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey while he was in the middle of certifying their election results, but the Governor almost immediately rejected the call and signed the state's certification.