Giuliani claims to be able to prove that Trump was robbed of Joe Biden as a result of a vote steal organized by the Democratic Party. Giuliani was considered a hero after his time as Mayor of New York City, but is now ridiculed by many as a not always successful stooge of the president. The more improbable the current endeavor becomes in view of the expiring deadlines and dismissed lawsuits, the more unbridled Trump’s lawyers rumble – and dive deeper and deeper into conspiracy theories.

In a 40-minute monologue at a press conference on Thursday, Giuliani spoke furiously about the massive electoral fraud, for which he has still not presented any solid evidence. The lawyers Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell followed up with their already refuted accusations and incoherent theories. In summary, their explanation for Trump’s defeat goes like this: Ballot papers for Biden have been scanned several times, which is why millions of votes are invalid for him. Also involved in the fraud are Cuba, Venezuela (including ex-President Hugo Chávez, who died in 2013), China, large cities in the USA, Antifa, tech companies and even an internet server in Germany.

Giuliani was sweating in the headlights. When dark paint ran down his cheeks to the left and right of the hairline on his ears – presumably traces of dye or mascara – the parallel to the horror film was quickly drawn. On Twitter it rained not only mockery and malice, but also warnings. “This press conference was about the most dangerous 1:45 hour TV in American history. And probably the craziest,” wrote Christopher Krebs, who Trump has just fired. As head of the agency for cyber and infrastructure security, he was responsible, among other things, for securing the elections.

A court is shattering after the Trump camp’s next lawsuit for lack of evidence – on the weekend, for example, in the state of Pennsylvania, where Trump apparently wanted to invalidate millions of postal votes and stop the certification of the final results that was due this Monday. But the judge in charge wrote that the arguments of Trump’s lawyers had not even been sufficient to invalidate the vote of “a single voter”. The seemingly amateurish approach of Giuliani & Co. can easily hide what it is actually about: overturning the result of an election that US authorities have already described as the safest in American history. “It would all be very funny if it weren’t so serious,” Justin Levitt, a law professor from Los Angeles, told the New York Times. Trump’s behavior is not only attacking the democratic process, but is also endangering national security in unprecedented ways. Since he does not admit his defeat, his government has not yet allowed an orderly handover of official business to election winner Biden.