Trump under fire from all sides | First Thing

Prominent Republicans have escalated their criticism of Trump's attempts to overturn the election, as his legal team cut ties with a conspiracy theorist lawyer. Plus, what influence will Obama have on a Biden presidency?

Good morning.

Prominent Republicans have ramped up their criticism of Trump's fruitless attempts to overturn the election result, condemning his legal team as an embarrassment" to the party. Two of Trump's former national security advisers joined the calls for the president to drop his baseless allegations of voter fraud, with HR McMaster calling the claims very corrosive" and John Bolton describing Trump as the political equivalent of a street rioter". Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, a Republican district court judge threw out Trump's attempts to overturn the result, comparing the claims to Frankenstein's monster".