Frantic Trump demands Arizona governor call out National Guard to protect latest audit of 2020 ballots

In a series of press releases on Saturday morning, former President Donald Trump praised the Arizona GOP for its new post-election stunt "auditing" ballots cast in Maricopa County in search of voter fraud — and attacking Republican Gov. Doug Ducey for, in his view, offering insufficient support for the effort, demanding he send out the National Guard to "protect" the proceedings.

Trump, though he acknowledged he would no longer be president after he exhausted his legal options and after his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol, has never fully disavowed the "big lie" that the election was stolen from him, and continues to push conspiracy theories about the results.

"Democrats are doing everything they can to stop the great Patriots of Arizona from doing a Forensic Audit of the 2020 Presidential Election Scam," said Trump in the first of the press releases. In the second, he demanded that "Governor Ducey will be held fully responsible for the safety of those involved. State police or National Guard must be immediately sent out for protection."

In the third press release, he said, "The Democrats are desperate for the FRAUD to remain concealed," and "The Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, has been shockingly of zero help to the State Senate. He wants to "pretend" the election was free and fair ... I predict the results will be startling!"

The Arizona GOP has hired a Florida-based technology company called Cyber Ninjas to conduct the "audit." The decision has come under fire, given that the vote count has been checked exhaustively and certified, and the firm is run by a Trump supporter who has praised the work of disgraced "Kraken" conspiracy theory lawyer Sidney Powell.