Michigan’s top election official has claimed that Donald Trump called for to be arrested for treason and “executed” after she refused to overturn his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.
The state’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, says that she was told about the one-term president’s remarks from a source familiar with the White House meeting she alleges it was said in.
“It was surreal and I felt sad,” Ms Benson told NBC News.
“It certainly amplified the heightened sense of anxiety, stress and uncertainty of that time — which I still feel in many ways, because it showed there was no bottom to how far he (Trump) and his supporters were willing to stoop to overturn or discredit a legitimate election.”
Ms Benson is fighting to retain her position against Republican , Kristina Karamo, who has supported Mr Trump’s lies and called the 2020 election “rigged and stolen.”
Ms Karamo, who has also said her opponent “should go to jail”, has been endorsed by Mr Trump, who claims she is “strong on crime, including the massive crime of election fraud.”
Mr Trump’s spokesman Taylor Budowich has denied that he ever made the threat.
“I have it on good authority that Secretary Benson knowingly lied throughout her interview with NBC News,” he said.
The 2022 elections will decide who takes control over elections in 24 states, with 2020 election deniers on the ballot in 14 states, including Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona.
These were all battleground states won by Mr Biden to help him defeat Mr Trump on his way to the Oval Office.
