Despite a coordinated campaign to convince “faithless electors” to break tradition (and sometimes the law) to change their votes, Donald Trump cruised to victory Monday in the Electoral College, easily surpassing the 270 votes needed to confirm his victory.
Electors reported receiving thousands of emails, letters and phone calls urging them to change their vote. Hollywood celebrities posted online videos urging electors to dump Trump (in one, Martin Sheen addressed the female vice chair of the Kansas Republican Party as “Mr. McMillan”). Seventy-nine Democratic electors—led by Nancy Pelosi’s daughter and encouraged by Hillary Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta—demanded an intelligence briefing on Russian interference before voting (their “bipartisan” effort included exactly one Republican). They were denied.
Opponents staged last-ditch protests outside meeting places, needing to turn 37 Trump electors; in the end, only two defected. Curiously, however, four of Clinton’s electors did so.
