Matt Slocum/The Associated Press
- During a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday, the Republican City Commissioner of Philadelphia said his office is receiving death threats for counting votes.
- Al Schmidt said there are “calls to our offices reminding us that ‘This is what the Second Amendment is for, people like us.'”
- Philadelphia and Pennsylvania generally have been at the center of President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, as he continues to contest the results of the election, which news outlets have called for President-elect Joe Biden.
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The Republican City Commissioner of Philadelphia said his office is receiving death threats for counting votes during a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday.
“From the inside looking out, it feels all very deranged,” Al Schmidt said in an interview with Bill Whitaker in reference to unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the city.
“At the end of the day, we are counting eligible votes cast by voters,” Schmidt, whose office oversees vote counting, said. “It’s people making accusations that we wouldn’t count those votes or people are adding fraudulent votes or just, coming up with, just, all sorts of crazy stuff.”
“Or calls to our offices reminding us that ‘This is what the Second Amendment is for, people like us.'”
Whitaker says that sounds like a death threat, to which Schmidt replies, “Yes, for counting votes in a democracy.”
Philadelphia and Pennsylvania generally have been at the center of President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, as he continues to contest the results of the election, which news outlets have called for President-elect Joe Biden.
On Saturday, Trump sent off a series of tweets, claiming without evidence that "tens of thousands of votes were illegally received" in the state. He also alleged that his poll watchers were not allowed to observe counting, but in federal court earlier in the week his campaign lawyer reportedly admitted to a judge that they did in fact have observers present.
—60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 9, 2020
The president's supporters have seized on his message, taking to the streets to protest the results of the election.
Meanwhile, state and city officials, including Schmidt, have denied the claims of fraudulent election activity.
"The president's allegations of large-scale fraud and theft of the election are just not substantiated," Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said on "TODAY" on Friday.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, also dismissed the voter fraud claims as "baseless" during a news conference on Friday, saying, "What we have seen here in Philadelphia is democracy, pure and simple."
Read more: Legal problems galore await Donald Trump now that he's lost reelection and his presidential immunity
During the "60 Minutes" interview, Whitaker asked Schmidt about Trump claiming "bad things" were happening in Philadelphia.
"In the birthplace of our Republic, counting votes is not a bad thing," he replied. "Counting votes cast on or before Election Day by eligible voters is not corruption. It is not cheating. It is democracy."