Watch As Arizona’s Governor Sends Trump Directly To Voicemail

After a tumultuous election cycle and an attempted "coup," the tides have turned for what feels like the hundredth time as state results continue being certified in favor of President-elect Joe Biden. On Monday, Governor Doug Ducey certified Arizona’s election results, solidifying a Biden win in the state by giving him 11 electoral votes (yes, again). Though many sighed in relief, President Trump’s reaction was predictable: he threw a tantrum.

“Why is he rushing to put a Democrat in office, especially when so many horrible things concerning voter fraud are being revealed at the hearing going on right now. @OANN What is going on with @dougducey? Republicans will long remember!" the president tweeted on Monday. The hearing Trump referred to was actually a meeting between his lawyers and Arizona state lawmakers, where his legal team made more claims of fraud and urged the state to throw the election results out. During the hearing, Trump called to criticize Ducey for certifying the results, saying he showed "such corruption, such horrible fraud."

Throughout the day, he continued to accuse Ducey, retweeting claims that Ducey betrayed the people of Arizona, and more. His whole legal team is standing their ground and sticking with those claims, despite the certification and no evidence of fraud.

But all of this comes after a relatively stable relationship between the Republican governor and President Trump. Governor Ducey endorsed the president for re-election in 2019, and tweeted out Trump 2020 posts leading up to November. Since the election results, however, Trump has frequently called out “disloyal” Republicans including Mitt Romney, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for not supporting his...coup. 

Governor Ducey, of course, responded to Trump’s rampage yesterday in a Twitter thread where he defended Arizona’s election procedures. While he didn’t mention Trump at all, he did say that Arizona has "some of the strongest election laws in the country.” He ended the thread by challenging Trump to contest the election — if he dares. “The canvass of the election triggers a 5-day window for any elector to bring a credible challenge to the election results in court. If you want to contest the results, now is the time. Bring your challenges,” Ducey said. 

Perhaps the best part of this all is that back in July of this year, Ducey changed his ringtone to Hail to the Chief to alert him when the White House was on the line so he would never miss a call from Trump or Pence. Ironically, Hail to the Chief began to play just as Ducey was certifying the state’s election results yesterday — but the Governor set the phone aside and ignored the call from Trump. Talk about an iconic historical moment: nothing says 'this friendship is over' better than a call sent straight to voicemail.