Who Said He Wouldnt Be Surprised if Trump Wins Again in 2020

'I Alone Tin Fix It' book excerpt: Inside Trump's Election Twenty-four hours and the birth of the 'big prevarication'

At the end of a tumultuous twenty-four hour period, the defiant president refused to accept the signs that he was losing the White Business firm contest to Joe Biden. "I won in a landslide and they're taking it back," Trump told directorate.

July 15, 2021 at 2:17 p.grand. EDT

President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House early on the morning subsequently Election Day in 2020. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Postal service)

Function one of an extract from " I Alone Tin Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year ." Part 2 can be found here . Leonnig and Rucker will talk over this book during a Washington Post Live upshot on July 20.

Finally, Election Day had arrived. The morning of Nov. 3, 2020, President Trump was upbeat. The mood in the Westward Wing was good. Some aides talked giddily of a landslide. Several women who worked in the White Business firm arrived wearing cherry-red sweaters in a show of optimism, while some Secret Service agents on the president's detail sported red ties for the occasion. Trump'south vocalisation was hoarse from his mad nuance of rallies, only he idea his exhausting concluding sprint had sealed the bargain. He considered Joe Biden to exist a lot of things, but a winner most definitely was not one of them. "I can't lose to this f------ guy," Trump told aides.

Around noon, his detail whisked Trump across the Potomac River to visit his campaign headquarters in Arlington, where entrada director Nib Stepien and the senior leadership briefed Trump in the conference room. Stepien outlined what to expect that nighttime — when polls closed in each battleground state, how quickly votes should be tallied and which states would probably have the first projected winners. He explained that because of the huge number of mail-in ballots in many states, information technology might take long into the night for votes to be counted. Patience was in club.

Stepien explained to Trump that in many battleground states, the first votes to be recorded were expected to exist in-person Election Day votes, which could lean Trump, while mail-in votes, which were likely to heavily favor Biden, would be added to the tally later every bit those ballots were processed. This meant that the early on vote totals could well bear witness Trump ahead by solid margins.

"It'south going to be practiced early," Stepien told the dominate. Just, as he cautioned the president, those numbers would be incomplete and the margins probably would tighten after in the evening.

Trump so stepped out of the conference room and into the big open floor of cubicles to give a cursory pep talk to scores of assembled staffers, who greeted him with raucous applause. A pool of journalists stood nearby to cover his remarks, and a reporter asked whether he had prepared an credence speech or a concession speech to evangelize that evening.

"No, I'm not thinking nigh concession speech or credence spoken communication yet," Trump said. "Hopefully, we'll be only doing one of those two. And, you know, winning is easy. Losing is never easy. Not for me it's not."

Every bit Trump idea well-nigh winning or losing, the Pentagon brass was focused on keeping the peace. That morning, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper; Gen. Marker Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and other defense officials were briefed about security concerns effectually the nation. If Trump won, officials expected large crowds of protesters to assemble in Washington, mayhap as many every bit 10,000 or 15,000 people. Law enforcement officials were monitoring cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Norfolk, Philadelphia and San Diego, for likely protests.

Meanwhile, White Business firm cooks and ushers were busy preparing to receive hundreds of guests for an election dark viewing political party. Trump's original plan had been to stage his "victory" party at the Trump International Hotel a few blocks away on Pennsylvania Avenue. But that programme had been scotched a few days before, equally the president's wishes for a celebration at his luxury hotel ran headlong into the Commune's public health regulations for the coronavirus. No more than l people could gather at an indoor venue in the city.

Trump's campaign and his White House political team had about 400 people they wanted to invite for election nighttime, so they moved the party to the White House, which is on federal property and therefore non subject to local ordinances. The choice of location broke with a solemn tradition of never using the White Firm for overt political purposes, a norm Trump had already tossed aside in August by delivering his Republican National Convention acceptance spoken language from the South Lawn.

Trump also used the White House to house his political performance, setting upwards ii "war rooms" with computers, large-screen televisions and other equipment where campaign staffers would monitor election returns. The larger of the two war rooms was in government office space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is next to the W Wing and part of the White House campus, where roughly 60 staffers would take work stations from which to receive up-to-the-minute data from battleground states and track precinct data. The smaller state of war room was in the Map Room, on the footing level of the White House residence. Steeped in history, the Map Room took its name from Globe War Ii, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt turned it into a state of affairs room with maps to runway troop movements and to receive classified data on the war's progress. Trump's nigh senior aides planned to piece of work through the night in the Map Room, at present transformed into the campaign's control center, where Stepien and his top deputies could analyze data and stay shut to the president to brief him in person as needed.

This and other episodes recounted in this book are based on hundreds of hours of interviews with more than 140 people, including the well-nigh senior Trump administration officials, friends and exterior advisers to the 45th president. Well-nigh of the people interviewed agreed to speak candidly simply on the status of anonymity. Scenes were reconstructed based on immediate accounts and, whenever possible, corroborated past multiple sources and buttressed by a review of calendars, diary entries, internal memos and other correspondence amongst principals.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been working toward this night for four years. For her, election nighttime in 2016 had been a nightmare, and she was determined non to allow a repeat in 2020. "That night was like getting kicked in the back by a mule over and over again," she said in an interview. The California Democrat recalled thinking that night almost Trump'due south surprise victory: "It can't be true. It can't be happening to our country."

Pelosi added: "You understand that this is not a person of sound mind. You lot understand that. You know that. He'south not of sound heed … When he get-go got elected, I was devastated considering I idea Hillary Clinton was one of the all-time prepared people to be president — better than her hubby, ameliorate than [Barack] Obama, better than George Westward. Bush. Maybe non amend than George Herbert Walker Bush, because he had been a vice president. I don't call back any of the people I only mentioned would deny that she was ameliorate qualified, experienced, all the rest of it. And then, the idea that he would go elected was shocking. It was shocking."

Paw Romney had been less shocked by Trump's election — he had watched firsthand as the Republican Party was radicalized by the far right — but was only as determined to preclude a second Trump term. The senator from Utah said in an interview that he watched the election returns in California with his married woman, Ann, son Craig and other family members, and felt a pit in his tum. The early numbers looked surprisingly good for Trump. Biden was struggling in the quadrennial bellwether of Florida, fifty-fifty in Democrat-rich Miami-Dade County.

"I think he's going to win," Romney recalled telling his family. "Those polls were style off. I think he's going to pull information technology out."

At the White House, people liked what they were seeing. There was a party atmosphere. Staff hung out in Due west Wing offices chatting at least until 9 p.m. National Security Council officials celebrated in the Roosevelt Room. White Firm Chief of Staff Mark Meadows served beer and food in his corner office. Some other group of aides lingered outside White Firm press secretarial assistant Kayleigh McEnany's office, known as Upper Press. In the residence, scores of guests — Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, television stars and other dignitaries — were drinking and milling around, mostly without masks salve for Health and Human being Services Secretarial assistant Alex Azar, who kept his on. Subsequently a few as well many swigs of wine and beer, some guests became rather animated as the dark progressed.

Upstairs in the first family unit's private quarters, Trump was glued to the tv. He alternated betwixt watching from his bedroom solitary and from a family room with Melania, other family members and some of his nearly trusted aides, including Hope Hicks. Senior advisers including Stepien, Meadows, McEnany, Jason Miller, Stephen Miller and Ronna McDaniel were in the Map Room. Members of the president'southward family — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Eric Trump and his wife, Lara, who worked on the campaign — came in and out much of the night, every bit did a pair of special party guests, Play a joke on News stars Laura Ingraham and Jeanine Pirro.

They all turned to Matt Oczkowski for updates, sometimes as often every bit every few minutes. As the entrada'southward top data cruncher, Oczkowski sat in front end of a reckoner and performed existent-time analysis of precinct information to stay ahead of state calls and to spot whatsoever trouble on the horizon. He liked what he saw early on on. Florida offered the first expert indicators. Trump was overperforming with Blacks and Latinos, specially among Cuban Americans in Southward Florida. Miami-Dade was going gangbusters for Trump. And turnout amongst the president's base of rural Whites was high. Meadows, meanwhile, paid close attention to precinct returns out of Northward Carolina, which he had represented in Congress, and he felt confident about Trump's chances at that place. And early on returns out of Pennsylvania were encouraging.

At this indicate in the evening, Stepien tried to temper Trump'south optimism and proceed the president's listen from racing besides far ahead of reality. "Stay calm," the campaign manager told him. "We won't know for some menses of time."

1 Trump confidant who by and large stayed out of the Map Room was Rudolph W. Giuliani. That's because the president'due south personal attorney had set his own command center upstairs on the party flooring. Giuliani sat at a table in the Cherry Room with his son, Andrew, who worked at the White Firm in the Office of Public Liaison, staring intensely at a laptop watching vote tallies. The Giulianis made for an odd scene, as partygoers swirled around them. Subsequently a while, Rudy Giuliani started to cause a mayhem. He was telling other guests that he had come up with a strategy for Trump and was trying to get into the president's private quarters to tell him about it. Some people thought Giuliani may have been drinking too much and suggested to Stepien that he go talk to the former New York mayor. Stepien, Meadows and Jason Miller took Giuliani down to a room just off the Map Room to hear him out.

Giuliani went country by state asking Stepien, Meadows and Miller what they were seeing and what their plan was.

"What'due south happening in Michigan?" he asked.

They said information technology was likewise early on to tell, votes were still being counted and they couldn't say.

"Just say we won," Giuliani told them.

Aforementioned thing in Pennsylvania. "Just say we won Pennsylvania," Giuliani said.

Giuliani'due south m plan was to just say Trump won, land afterwards state, based on aught. Stepien, Miller and Meadows thought his argument was both incoherent and irresponsible.

"We tin't do that," Meadows said, raising his vocalization. "We can't."

Some competitive races were falling into identify for Republicans. In South Carolina, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham faced a tough challenge from Democrat Jaime Harrison, an impressive candidate who had garnered national attending and raised a record-shattering $109 one thousand thousand. Simply South Carolina, long a bastion of Republicanism, stayed true to form. The race was called early, with Graham winning 54 pct to Harrison'south 44 per centum.

Trump was watching TV equally news networks projected Graham's victory, and within minutes he called his friend.

"Yous got yours," Trump told Graham. "I've got a fight on my hands."

"Well, Mr. President, hang in at that place," Graham said. "It'due south looking pretty expert for you."

As the dark wore on, some of Trump's directorate began to worry. Public polls, as well as the Trump entrada'south internal surveys, had long projected that the race was Biden'south to lose, and that prediction was bearing out as more precincts reported votes from battleground states. Alyssa Farah, the White House communications managing director, stepped away from the party in the East Room and saw McDaniel pacing in the hallway.

"Ronna, expert to see you!" Farah said to the Republican National Commission chairwoman.

"Hey, good to see you," McDaniel said. And then, as she turned away, McDaniel said, "Things are not looking practiced."

William P. Barr had the same feeling. The attorney general had shown up for Trump's election night party, even though he had thought for months that Trump was destined to become a one-term president. Trump didn't seem able to go out of his ain style and deliver a disciplined bulletin. Barr hung around the party for a bit, just a little subsequently x p.k. decided to call information technology a night. He went home to get some sleep.

The Pentagon'southward top two leaders stayed away from Trump'due south party, withal hypervigilant most avoiding any suggestion that they were politicizing the armed services. Esper and Milley had learned that lesson back on June i in Lafayette Square. Milley watched the returns on Television set from his home at Fort Myer in Arlington. A history buff, Milley memorialized the night by keeping his own scorecard of states in his journal. Around 10:30 p.m., with results from nearly fundamental states still far as well shut to telephone call, Milley received an interesting call from a retired armed services buddy who reminded him of his apolitical role as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"You are an island unto yourself right now," the friend said, according to the account Milley shared with aides. "You are not tethered. Your loyalty is to the Constitution. You lot correspond the stability of this republic."

Milley's friend added: "There's fourth-rate people at the Pentagon. And you have 5th-rate people at the White Business firm. You're surrounded by total incompetence. Hang in at that place. Hang tough."

Esper was at home in Northern Virginia feeling at peace that he had survived this long without getting fired and without having acquiesced to Trump's wishes to order troops to pause upwardly domestic protests. The defense secretary had had a target on his back all fall, but Trump had not axed him.

Esper had a scare the night before, Nov. two, when NBC's Courtney Kube planned to written report that he was preparing to be fired the day later the election, had updated his resignation alphabetic character and was quietly advising members of Congress almost renaming Regular army bases named for Confederate generals as a sort of mic drop to fortify his legacy. Esper believed that if NBC published the story, information technology would bespeak that he was on the verge of resigning and prompt his premature firing — so he raced to terminate it. He directed his aides to endeavor to convince Kube that her information could be overhyped. It was truthful that Esper had been consulting with Congressional committees about renaming the bases. Information technology also was true that he had prepared a resignation alphabetic character, as many Trump appointees had, just he had no imminent plans to submit information technology. In truth, Esper expected that Trump would fire him after the election, simply was hoping to concur on if he could, at least for a few days subsequently the election. He was worried near what Trump might endeavour to exercise with the military if he were not at the captain. Esper warned Kube that publishing her story could result in a more compliant interim secretary of defense, which could have worrisome repercussions. The story was held as they tussled back and forth.

Esper was a lifelong Republican and had worked at the conservative Heritage Foundation likewise as for Republican senators Bill Frist and Chuck Hagel. Simply he told his closest colleagues that as he watched Boob tube news anchors comprehend the election results, he constitute himself rooting for the Democrat. Esper had worked with Biden and his secretary of state in waiting, Antony Blinken, when he was a senior staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He had confidence that they were serious, stable people who cared deeply most shoring upwardly national security. Esper couldn't say the aforementioned about Trump. In fact, Trump had privately indicated that he would seek to withdraw from NATO and to accident up the U.S. brotherhood with South korea, should he win reelection. When those alliances had come up upward in meetings with Esper and other superlative aides, some advisers warned Trump that shredding them before the ballot would exist politically dangerous.

"Yep, the second term," Trump had said. "We'll do it in the second term."

Esper had known that Trump had wanted to burn him ever since their June 3 argument over the Insurrection Act, merely had heard that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, campaign officials and other advisers had talked the president out of doing so before the election. They had argued that he couldn't afford to rupture his human relationship with a second defence secretary, not afterwards Jim Mattis'southward rocky divergence and the sharp public criticism he later leveled at Trump.

Esper had lived through the strain of the 2000 recounts and the Bush-league v. Gore instance. He had repeatedly told his deputies that he wanted this election to exist "clean and clear," as in free of any suggestion of abuse and indisputably clear who had won. He had feared that anything less might requite Trump some shred of a reason to phone call out troops. After in the evening, as returns posted in Biden's favor, Esper told a friend, "It looks good." The defense secretary went to bed comforted by signs that the country would get a divided and stable authorities — a Democratic president and, he hoped, a Republican Senate.

At 11:20 p.grand. on Play tricks News, Pecker Hemmer was standing earlier his giant bear on screen in the network's Studio F in New York, guiding viewers through electoral college scenarios when Arizona turned blue on his map. The sudden change in colour caught Hemmer off guard. "What is this happening here? Why is Arizona blue? Did we only call information technology? Did we just make a phone call in Arizona? Let's see," he said.

Co-anchor Martha MacCallum said that indeed Trick had called Arizona, a hotly contested battleground state with 11 electoral college votes.

Co-anchor Bret Baier chimed in. "Fourth dimension out," he said. "This is a big development. Fox News'south determination desk-bound is calling Arizona for Joe Biden." Baier added, "Biden picking up Arizona changes the math."

Trump, who had been watching Fox, was livid. He could not fathom that the conservative news network he had long considered an extension of his campaign was the commencement news organization to call Arizona for Biden. This was a betrayal. His superlative advisers, who had been in the Map Room at the time, rushed upstairs to see the president. Giuliani followed them.

"They're calling it manner likewise early," Oczkowski told Trump. "This thing is close. We still call up nosotros'll win narrowly — and not just us. Doug Ducey's modeling people evidence us winning." Ducey, Arizona'southward Republican governor, and his political squad had kept in shut contact with Trump's aides.

That hardly reassured the president. "What the f--- is Fox doing?" Trump screamed. Then he barked orders to Kushner: "Phone call Rupert! Call James and Lachlan!" And to Jason Miller: "Go Sammon. Get Hemmer. They've got to reverse this." The president was referring to Fox owner Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, as well as Bill Sammon, a meridian news executive at Fox.

Trump'southward tirade continued. "What the f---?" he bellowed. "What the f--- are these guys doing? How could they call this this early?"

Oczkowski again tried to soothe the president. "They're calling this mode as well early on," he said. "This is unbelievable."

Giuliani pushed the president to forget well-nigh the Arizona call and merely say he won — to step into the Due east Room and deliver a victory speech communication. Never mind that Meadows had earlier snapped at Giuliani and said the president couldn't merely declare himself the winner.

"Just go declare victory right now," Giuliani told Trump. "You lot've got to go declare victory at present."

Giuliani'southward interjection of his "just-say-you-won" strategy infuriated Trump's campaign advisers.

"Information technology's hard to be the responsible parent when there'south a cool uncle around taking the kid to the movies and driving him effectually in a Corvette," ane of these advisers recalled. "When we say the president can't say that, beingness responsible is not the easiest place to be when y'all've got people telling the president what he wants to hear. It's hard to tell the president no. It's not an enviable place to exist."

Once they got away from the president, Kushner chosen Rupert Murdoch. Jason Miller tried Sammon merely couldn't attain him. Other Trump aides pitched in, too. Counselor Kellyanne Conway reached out to Baier and MacCallum, who were on the air. Hicks, who had worked nether Lachlan Murdoch at the Fox Corp. between her White Firm stints, reached out to Fox Corp. Senior Vice President Raj Shah, a former Trump spokesman, to runway down a number for Jay Wallace, the president of Fox News.

Conway talked to Brian Seitchik, a longtime Trump adviser based in Arizona, who bodacious her: "This is irresponsible. Here in Arizona, we simply have way too many votes left to count."

Ducey called the Trump team and was put on speakerphone. The governor told them that the Fob call was premature and that, according to his analysis, Trump notwithstanding had a chance to win because so many votes remained to be counted.

Typically, most news organizations phone call states effectually the same time considering they tend to have similar standards for when it is prophylactic to project winners and losers. But with Arizona, other major news organizations held back on joining Fox's phone call. In fact, Jason Miller received text messages from contacts at other networks. "I can't believe Flim-flam is doing y'all guys dirty," ane of them wrote.

Trump and his family became apoplectic every bit the nighttime ticked on and his early on leads over Biden in Pennsylvania and other states kept shrinking. As additional votes were being counted, Biden inched closer to Trump. Pennsylvania was too close to phone call, every bit was Georgia. Trump decided to evangelize remarks to his viewing party and came downwards into the Map Room, where he yelled at Justin Clark, the deputy entrada managing director.

"Why are they still counting votes?" Trump asked. "The ballot's airtight. Are they counting ballots that came in afterward? What the hell is going on?" Trump, through a spokesman, denied saying this.

The president told Conway that he thought something nefarious was at play.

"They're stealing this from united states," Trump said. "Nosotros accept this thing won. I won in a landslide and they're taking it dorsum."

Of course, nobody was taking anything. Election officials were merely doing their duty, counting ballots. But Trump didn't see it that manner. He seemed to truly believe he had been winning. As one Trump adviser later explained, "The psychological impact of, he'south going to win, people were calling him saying he's going to win, and then somehow these votes only keep showing up."

Eric Trump, who the night before had predicted to friends that his father would win with 322 electoral college votes, flipped out in the Map Room.

"The ballot is being stolen," the president's 36-year-old son said. "Where are these votes coming from? How is this legit?"

He yelled at the campaign's data analysts, as if it were their fault that his father'south early leads over Biden were shrinking. "We pay yous to exercise this," he said. "How tin this be happening?"

Eric Trump, through a spokesperson, insisted that he did not berate entrada staff, equally described past witnesses.

Donald Trump Jr. said, "There's no way we lose to this guy," referring to Biden.

Shortly after 2 a.chiliad. on Nov. iv, "Hail to the Chief" played at the East Room party. Out walked Trump, followed by Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence. Stephen Miller and the speechwriting squad had prepared remarks for Trump to deliver, simply the president veered from his teleprompter script to instead deliver stream-of-consciousness thoughts.

"We were winning everything and all of a sudden it was just called off," Trump said. He added, "Literally, we were but all set to get outside and only celebrate something that was so beautiful, so good."

Trump rattled off states he had won — Florida! Ohio! Texas! — and and then claimed that he had already won states that were too close to telephone call, including Georgia and North Carolina. He bragged nearly his leads in some states — "Think of this: Nosotros're up 690,000 votes in Pennsylvania. Six hundred ninety yard!" — and falsely claimed to exist winning Michigan and Wisconsin.

Neither Trump nor Biden was declared the overall winner because Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania remained also close to phone call. Yet Trump insisted that he was the bodily winner, and that his sweet victory had been somehow snatched from him.

"This is a fraud on the American public," the president said. "This is an embarrassment to our land. Nosotros were getting ready to win this ballot. Frankly, we did win this election. We did win this election. So our goal now is to ensure the integrity for the proficient of this nation. This is a very big moment. This is a major fraud in our nation. We desire the law to be used in a proper mode. So we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. Nosotros want all voting to stop. We don't desire them to find any ballots at 4 o'clock in the forenoon and add them to the list, okay? It's a very sad moment. To me, this is a very sad moment, and we will win this. And as far equally I'k concerned, we already accept won it."

This was an extraordinary accusation for any political candidate to make about any election, much less for a sitting president to make nearly the country's most consequential election. Trump was telling the 74 million people who voted for him non to trust the results.

Watching from California, Romney was heartsick. "We're in a global battle for the survival of liberal democracy in the face up of autocracy and autocratic regimes attempting to dominate the world," he recalled in the interview. "And so maxim something and doing things that would suggest that in the complimentary nation of the United states of America and the model of democracy for the world, that we can't have a free and fair election would have a destructive effect on democracy around the world, not just to mention here."

Pelosi watched Trump's speech in horror. "It was just a complete, full manifestation [of] insanity," she recalled in the interview.

"It was articulate over that four-year menses that this was not a person who was on the level — on the level intellectually, on the level mentally, on the level emotionally and certainly not on the level patriotically," she said. "So for him to say what he said, I wouldn't say was [as] surprising as it might accept been if we hadn't seen the instability all along."

Following his oral communication, Trump hung effectually the Green Room next door to the East Room talking to some advisers and VIP guests, asking them what they thought. Ingraham, whose prime-time bear witness was off the air that night because of Fox'due south ballot coverage, was overheard giving the president some advice. She expressed general dubiousness that the outcome would alter in the days alee, given the historical reluctance of federal courts to intervene in elections, a contrast to what she considered unrealistic scenarios existence painted by some others around the president.

"Give up on Arizona," Ingraham told him, apparently confident in her network's conclusion to project Biden the winner at that place.

Giving up wasn't in Trump's repertoire. "Fox shouldn't take chosen it," he told her.

Karl Rove, the former George W. Bush strategist and Fox commentator, had but come off the air when he got a phone call from a Trump adviser. "He's in a meltdown," the adviser told Rove. "Tin you call him and tell him that all is not lost?"

Rove phoned the president and tried to give him a pep talk.

"Hang in there," he told Trump. "There's a lot of ballots to be counted and information technology's non going to exist done for some fourth dimension. You fought a skilful fight … You're not out withal."

Rove and Trump briefly discussed the state of the race in Arizona. "I know premature calls," he said, reminding the president of the fiasco on election night in 2000, when some networks projected Al Gore would win Florida only to have to retract their call a couple of hours after. "Hang in in that location. You lot gave it your all. You came down to the end. You upset them in 2016. You can do it over again. Just hold on."

Trump then retreated to the Map Room to talk to his campaign team. He stayed up until 4 a.one thousand. chewing over the incoming results. The president was fixated on Pennsylvania, where Biden kept cutting into his lead. There were plenty votes still to be counted in Philadelphia, which were sure to favor the Democrat, for Biden to overtake Trump. And indeed, Democrats were optimistic that once all the votes were in, Biden would win the land.

Conway and Meadows both preached patience.

"Mr. President, you're ahead in Pennsylvania by 700,000 votes," Conway told him. "We won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes concluding time. Just let them count the votes. Let them go through the votes."

Meadows said: "Just count the votes, Mr. President. Y'all probably take enough to keep those leads."

Trump wasn't having any of it. He thought Democrats were rigging the vote totals.

"If I wake upwards in the morning and they say Trump is alee by 100,000, they'll find 100,001 votes in the lawn," the president said.

"Mr. President, it stings," Conway said. "It only hurts to have lost Pennsylvania."

"Honey, we didn't lose Pennsylvania," Trump replied. "Nosotros won Pennsylvania."

Conway, who frequently was quick with a rejoinder to lighten the mood at tense moments, invoked the security cameras that some homeowners install at their front end doors to monitor for stolen packages or unwanted visitors. "Then your campaign should've invested in Ring and Nest cameras," she quipped.

Copyright 2021 by Ballad Leonnig and Philip Rucker. Reprinted with permission from Penguin Press. All rights reserved.

klinetays1939.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/13/book-excerpt-i-alone-can-fix-it/

0 Response to "Who Said He Wouldnt Be Surprised if Trump Wins Again in 2020"

Post a Comment

Iklan Atas Artikel

Iklan Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel