The White House hoped to find a "James Baker-like” figure to lead its postelection battle to somehow find a way to win a second term. But the original James Baker said the White House should stop trying to stop the votes from being counted.
Baker, the former U.S. secretary of state who led the legal and political team during the epic Florida recount battle in 2000 that secured the presidency for George W. Bush, said in an interview Thursday that President Donald Trump may have legitimate issues to pursue, but they should not be used to justify halting the initial tabulation of ballots.
"We never said don’t count the votes,” said Baker, a Republican who voted for Trump. "That’s a very hard decision to defend in a democracy.”