Donald Trump has given no indication he is preparing to concede (File)
Donald Trump’s inner circle increasingly recognizes that efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory will be in vain, although some advisers have urged the president to pursue targeted legal challenges, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump has given no indication that he is preparing to concede. His closest aide, his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, recommended the president ask the courts to ensure transparency in the counting of ballots underway in several disputed states, the people said.
The president is falling further behind Biden in three pivotal states – Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada – and hasn’t caught up enough in Arizona for the state to likely fall back into Trump’s column. He now follows Biden by about 101,000 votes combined across the four states, with the biggest deficits in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
Trump aides are aware the election has been decided, according to three people.
But the president plans to explore all options to make sure the legal votes are counted and the votes the campaign claims to be illegal are not, one of the people said. Neither Trump nor his team have released any evidence of widespread election irregularities or illegal votes.
Monday plans
The president’s team plans to take further legal action from Monday, according to one person, who declined to give further details.
Biden’s victory was called shortly before noon New York time on Saturday by the Associated Press and TV stations, after the former vice president’s lead widened to Pennsylvania. Several foreign leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, quickly issued statements congratulating the President-elect, and Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris delivered victory speeches on Saturday night.
Trump was on his northern Virginia golf course on Saturday when the race was called and returned on Sunday.
Former President George W. Bush spoke to Biden and Harris on Sunday, his office said in a statement referring to Biden as president-elect.
Bush said Trump “has the right to call for recounts and pursue legal proceedings,” but added that “the American people can be confident that this election was fundamentally fair, their integrity will be upheld and its outcome clear.”
Members of Trump’s team met with the president on Saturday at the White House after playing 18-hole golf course: David Bossie, a Republican political agent who oversees the legal fight; lawyer Eric Herschmann; campaign manager Bill Stepien; and senior political aides Justin Clark and Jason Miller.
‘BY A LOT’
Trump continues to insist that he defeated Biden, a baseless claim that has been echoed by others in his orbit, including personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The president tweeted on Saturday that he had won the election “BY A LOT”.
There are mixed feelings in Trump’s circle about his decision to play golf on Saturday, when the race could be called for Biden. An adviser said this indicates that the president doesn’t care whether he won or lost, even though campaign officials – on his orders – were moving forward with legal and PR challenges.
Moments after the start of the race, Giuliani held a press conference at a suburban Philadelphia lawn care company, where he alleged election fraud and irregularities – without presenting credible evidence – and said Trump would not concede.
White House and campaign legal teams are working in unison to expose all possible irregularities, one person said. White House legal adviser Pat Cipollone was in a meeting with Trump on Friday, along with Kushner, Bossie, Miller, Clark, Stepien, longtime adviser Hope Hicks, social media chief Dan Scavino and Marc Short, the chief office of the vice-president.
‘Show us’
So far, the legal struggle has not been very successful. Several lawsuits were dismissed in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan. The Supreme Court temporarily granted the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s request to say that late ballots in the state should be separated in the event that they are disqualified.
But it’s unclear how that would help Trump. He needs more ballots to win votes in Pennsylvania after Biden takes the lead.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Trump ally, said on Sunday Republicans must finally recognize Biden’s victory, but added that the president’s team has been slow to accept that they lost a “very controversial” election.
“You have the president sitting in the White House who doesn’t recognize him and I think there are a lot of Republicans trying to navigate it,” Christie told ABC News “This Week”.
“This is why it was so important to tell the president from the start, ‘if your reason for not admitting was voter fraud, then show us,” he said.
Key campaign aides have indicated they will fight for as long as the president wants, even as the reality of defeat emerges.
Communications director Tim Murtaugh tweeted a photo from the Washington Times covers that allegedly declared Al Gore the winner of the 2000 presidential race. These projections were retracted when George W. Bush took a narrow lead in Florida and Bush took won the presidency after the Supreme Court suspended a recount in the Sunshine State.
The Washington Times said the footage was “tampered with” and the newspaper “never made ‘President Gore’ headlines.” Murtaugh later deleted his post.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
