Trump appears to concede Democrats won Senate control but continues his push to overturn the presidential election

President Donald Trump appeared to concede that Democrats won control of the Senate on Wednesday morning even as he continued calling on Republican voters and lawmakers to attempt to overturn the presidential election he lost two months ago. 

Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won their Senate runoff elections on Tuesday night, delivering Senate control to the Democratic Party, according to projections by Insider and Decision Desk HQ. Trump argued on Wednesday that his quest to overturn his election loss is ever more urgent because the Republican Party needs “the power of the veto” to counteract Democratic control of Congress. 

“THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, OUR COUNTRY, NEEDS THE PRESIDENCY MORE THAN EVER BEFORE – THE POWER OF THE VETO. STAY STRONG!” the president tweeted on Wednesday morning. 

Trump’s apparent concession of the Senate races and his continued attempts to overturn the presidential election results illustrates his singular focus on his own political fate. 

The president sent a slew of tweets on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning baselessly claiming that Democrats had committed widespread voter fraud in the Georgia Senate races. Republican election officials in Georgia have already begun publicly pushing back on these claims. 

The president also stepped up his pressure campaign on Vice President Mike Pence to reject his ceremonial role in announcing the final Electoral College vote count on Wednesday. 

Pence is expected to preside over the pro forma certification of the Electoral College count and name President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the winners of the presidential election. Under the Constitution, the president of the Senate is required to announce the final count before a joint session of Congress. 

Trump has repeatedly publicly demanded that Pence violate the Constitution as dozens of Republican members of the House and 13 GOP senators have announced they’ll object to the Electoral College count in certain states Biden won. All 50 states and Washington, DC have certified their presidential election results and Congress is expected to ratify the final result on Wednesday, given that it requires a majority in both the House and Senate to reject certification. 

“If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency,” Trump tweeted early Wednesday morning. In another message he wrote, “All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!” 

Pence told the president on Tuesday that he doesn’t have the power to reject Congress’ ratification of Biden’s win, The New York Times reported. Trump denied this, claiming in a statement that he and Pence are “in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act.” 

After Congress either immediately certifies or debates the certification of each state’s count on Wednesday, the vice president is expected to read out the results on national television.