ROMULUS, Mich. - On his way to Washington D.C. to meet President Donald Trump, state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey was swarmed by activists at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
Both Shirkey and state House Speaker Lee Chatfield were summoned to the White House on Thursday to meet with the president, however, neither Republican has indicated what the three plan to discuss.
The suspect timing as Michigan's state canvassing board readies to vote to certify the election on Monday indicates the conversation will be election-based.
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Activists meet Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey at airport ahead of meeting with the president
At least one of the two GOP leaders scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump was spotted at the Detroit airport Friday morning. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey was met with more than two dozen activists while he waited in line.
Shirkey had little to say to the activists beyond saying he thought it was cool to go to the White House and it would be the second time he's talked to the president.
At the airport, activists holding signs chanted "protect our vote" at Shirkey as he printed out a boarding pass and got in line to walk through security.
"It is our complete displeasure that he is going to talk to the president we understand about some deal they're going to make regarding the vote," said one activist who was at the airport on Friday. "The votes count, we've counted and we need to go with the votes as they were done."
While there's been no "deal" between the Michigan GOP and Trump that's been reported, several publications including the Associated Press hinted at the legislature's role in selecting electors if the state's votes can't be certified by Nov. 23.
It became unclear if Chatfield was still planning on attending the meeting Friday morning after Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said she received a text from him while she was speaking on CNN that he hasn't confirmed if he was going yet.
"The speaker just texted me that he hasn't confirmed whether he's going or not," said Benson. "So we'll leave it at that."
While the voting day is long past, there are several formal steps each state must take before the electoral college can cast its ballots. Compared to previous elections, it's been a bumpy trajectory for the steps to proceed.
Absentee ballot counting at the TCF Center in Detroit was mobbed by protests the day after the election. Misinformation regarding dubious practices inside has spread across the Internet.
Two members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers initially voted against certifying the results out of the county, alleging voting practices that plagued Detroit's polls led to fraud. After immense public pressure, the two members, both Republicans, certified the vote.
But a day later, both rescinded their vote, arguing they had been bullied by Democrats and lied to about the promise of an independent audit of the county's votes.
The state canvassing board is scheduled to meet next Monday to conduct their own vote certification.