Opponents of Donald Trump are planning to protest in Atlanta and 49 other state capitals on Monday in a long-shot bid to convince enough electors to defy the Republican when members of the Electoral College formally cast their ballots for president.
The organizers of the Dec. 19 protests are taking aim at the Electoral College voters who are charged with formally electing presidents during post-election meetings in statehouses. They argue that Hillary Clinton's victory in the popular vote - she leads Trump by more than 2.8 million votes - should make the Democrat president.
"The electors have both the Constitutional right and the moral responsibility to stop Trump," said Daniel Brezenoff, whose petition urging electors to dump Trump attracted more than 5 million signatures. “He lost the popular vote and he should lose on December 19 at the Electoral College."
Georgia’s 16 GOP electors are all but guaranteed to vote for Trump — each reached by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said they would support him — and their ranks are filled with the stalwart party activists who spend much of their free time fighting for Republican causes.
Still, Trump’s critics hope they have another Baoky Vu in the making. Vu was a Georgia GOP elector who said in August that he might not cast his Electoral College ballot for Trump if he won. He was forced to resign from his post hours later, but he’s been made into something of a hero for Trump critics hoping electors block his ascension to the White House.
Trump critics who hope a like-minded Georgian will be tapped to replace him will be disappointed: Georgia GOP chair John Padgett, a stalwart Trump supporter, is likely to take his place.
More: Georgia GOP electors stick by Donald Trump
The anti-Trump forces still aren't giving up. Here's an ad that ran in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, paid for by the Democracy and Progress PAC:
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