In an incredibly literal interpretation of “fake it till you make it,” several fake electors will serve as delegates at the Republican National Convention next week, CNN reported Thursday. The fake electors—some of whom currently face criminal charges for their efforts to upend the 2020 presidential election results in support of Donald Trump—will serve as delegates for their state as part of the formal nomination process to confirm Trump as the Republican nominee.
Arizona’s delegation includes three people charged for their participation in a fake elector scheme, including state Senator Jake Hoffman, who pleaded not guilty last month to several felony charges alleging his participation in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results. Hoffman will serve on the Republican National Committee, which oversees the convention, alongside Georgia’s Amy Kremer, who helped organize the election-denialist rally at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021, ahead of the Capitol riot.
Michigan’s delegation includes four people facing charges, including fake electors Matthew DePerno and former Michigan GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock. DePerno is facing charges for breaching a voting machine in 2020, and Maddock pleaded not guilty in April to eight felony charges stemming from her alleged participation in a fake elector scheme. Pennsylvania is also sending three fake electors as delegates, according to documents reviewed by CNN.
CNN notes that prior to charges being dismissed against fake electors in Nevada, five of the state’s six fake electors were chosen by the Republican Party to attend the RNC. Pam Travis, a fake elector in Wisconsin, is also a delegate for the state, with fellow fake elector Robert Spindell serving as an alternate. Travis and Spindell are both prohibited from serving as electors in future elections as part of a settlement agreement brought against fake electors in Wisconsin.
“Election denialism is like the price of entry now,” former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger said. “These people that were in the fake elector scheme, or got a mugshot, they’re now the heroes of the movement, and they’ve taken over the party.”
RNC spokesperson Anna Kelly dismissed concerns, telling CNN, “State delegations are made up of delegates elected by their peers at the state party level.”
“This kind of far-right MAGA extremism on full display in today’s GOP is exactly why voters will reject Trump this November,” DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd told CNN.
An estimated 2,429 delegates will be attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week, where they are expected to formally confirm Trump’s nomination as the Republican candidate for president. Trump needs 1,215 delegates to clinch the Republican Party’s nomination, and received 2,243 in the primaries. Nikki Haley, who received 97 delegates before dropping out, released her delegates this week, directing them to choose Trump.
