The U.S. Supreme Court, on Friday, rejected a longshot lawsuit by Texas and backed by President Donald Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states, dealing him a likely fatal blow in his quest to undo his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden.
The decision allows the U.S. electoral college to press ahead with a meeting on Monday, where it is expected to formally cast its votes and make Biden’s victory official. Biden, a Democrat, has amassed 306 votes to Trump‘s 232 in the state-by-state Electoral College, which allots votes to all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on population.
The four states in question – Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – contributed a combined 62 votes to Biden’s total. To win the White House, 270 votes are needed.
In a brief order, the justices said Texas did not have legal standing to bring the case, abruptly ending what Trump had touted this week as his best hope for overturning the election.
After midnight, Trump said on Twitter, “The Supreme Court really let us down. No Wisdom, no Courage!” Complaining that the court had rejected the case “in a flash” despite his winning more votes than any other sitting president, Trump wrote: “A Rigged Election, fight on!”