Michigan Attorney General Likens Trump’s Post-Election Gambit To ‘Friday The 13th’ Movie

Jason grabs cop in a scene from the film 'Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan', 1989. (Photo by Paramount/Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) on Wednesday said that efforts by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn election results has been like a horror film that comes back, hauntingly, again and again.

“This post-election process has been like a ‘Friday the 13th’ movie,” Nessel told MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski during an interview on Wednesday, adding that although the Trump campaign’s claims of election fraud have been “debunked time and time again,” they just keep coming back in fresh and unsubstantiated waves that ultimately drain state resources and weaken public confidence in the electoral system.

“No matter how many times you shoot Jason, or you stab Jason, or you electrocute Jason, he keeps coming back at you over and over again,” Nessel said likening the baseless and equally fruitless efforts by the campaign to swindle the election in court to the blockbuster movie’s murderous villain. “He won’t stay down. That is what this feels like, but unfortunately it’s an incredible waste of state resources for all of our states. These are ridiculous claims.” 

The comments come after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a request on Tuesday calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lawsuit challenging the election results in Michigan and three other battleground states lost by Trump in last month’s election, including Georgia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Paxton’s request urged the justices to discard the will of the people and give the GOP-controlled legislatures the chance to appoint their own electors to the Electoral College instead.

The news comes after a recent report from the Associated Press detailing a criminal investigation by the FBI into claims that the Texas attorney general abused his office to benefit a wealthy donor.

Nessel speculated that Paxton’s efforts to cozy up to Trump are tied to hopes for a presidential pardon amid the investigation, following reports that President Trump had discussed pardons for roughly 20 associates and according to one Axios source, was considering offering up clemency “like Christmas gifts” even to those who had not requested them.

Latest News
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: