Trump does not plan to concede any time soon, aides and allies indicate

[webfact]

Trump does not plan to concede any time soon, aides and allies indicate

By Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Andrea Shalal and Alexandra Alper

 

U.S President Donald Trump returns to the White House after news media declared Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden to be the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Washington, U.S., November 7, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After the declaration on Saturday that Democrat Joe Biden had won the race for the White House, Republican President Donald Trump and his allies made one thing clear: he does not plan to concede anytime soon.

 

The president, who has spent months trying to undermine the election results with unproven allegations of fraud, pledged on Saturday to go forward with a legal strategy that he hopes will overturn state results that gave Biden the win in Tuesday's vote. Trump aides and Republican allies, while somewhat conflicted on how to proceed, largely supported his strategy or remained silent.

 

"The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor," Trump said in a statement released by his campaign around midday.

 

The president's allies and advisers privately admitted that the former New York businessman's chances of overturning the election results and staying in the White House were slim. While preparing for an eventual concession, they called for time to let the legal challenges run their course.

 

"He should allow the recounts to go forward, file whatever claims there are, and then if nothing changes he should concede," said one Trump advisor.

 

The Trump campaign and Republicans have brought numerous lawsuits over alleged election irregularities. Judges tossed cases in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump headed to the golf course for a second day in a row on Sunday (November 8), the morning after his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, made his victory speech as president-elect.

 

In Pennsylvania, judges sided with Republicans and ordered some provisional ballots set aside and granted Republican observers greater access to vote counting. Legal experts said the legal challenges were too narrow in scope to have an impact on the outcome of the election.

 

Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to raise at least $60 million to fund legal challenges, sources told Reuters.

 

"He should make sure every vote is counted and demand transparency. That puts him on solid rhetorical grounds," said another former White House official.

 

Trump was at his golf property in Virginia when the race was called for Biden. Clusters of Biden supporters lined two blocks of his motorcade's route back on Saturday afternoon. Trump re-entered the White House wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, looking glum with a cell phone in his hand. Biden supporters gathered and celebrated loudly near the White House.

 

'CONCEDE GRACEFULLY'

Republicans worried that Trump could tarnish his legacy if he does not eventually make a graceful exit, eroding his future political power. "It will be impossible for him to run again in 2024 if he's seen as a sore loser," a congressional Republican source said.

 

Fox News host Laura Ingraham, a staunch Trump defender, on Friday urged the president, if and when the time came, to accept an unfavorable outcome with "grace and composure," and the Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board wrote that Trump "needs evidence to prove voter fraud."

 

"If Mr. Biden has 270 Electoral College votes at the end of the counting and litigation, President Trump will have a decision to make. We hope in that event he would concede gracefully," it said.

 

Biden crossed that crucial threshold on Saturday by winning the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

 

One Trump adviser said White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows would likely be the aide who would raise with Trump the idea of conceding. Meadows came down with the coronavirus this week and is under quarantine.

 

Another former adviser said Vice President Mike Pence or senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner would have the job of telling the president when it was time to concede.

 

Indeed, CNN reported late on Saturday that Kushner had approached Trump about conceding. A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

"President Trump is entitled to take the time he wants to absorb this. It was close and it's not productive to demand an immediate concession," said Ari Fleischer, who was a White House press secretary in the George W. Bush administration.

 

"The best thing to keep this country together is to give the president a reasonable period of time to accept the results."

 

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Andrea Shalal and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Heather Timmons, Paul Simao and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-09

 

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[ChakaKhan]

Babies gonna act like babies.....next

[dexterm]

Of course he won't concede. His followers think Trump is a king.

 

"Lindsay Graham (C) has been a royal supporter of President Trump"

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/election-us-2020-54786937

 

I'm sure the BBC will correct the typo soon.

 

[shdmn]

I would love to see him refuse to leave and be dragged out kicking and screaming.  It would be a fitting end to this reality tv show of his.

Edited November 8, 2020 by shdmn

[TopDeadSenter]

Hopefully everybody agrees the election result must be seen as legitimate. Proper investigations into Trump's claims must be made, and fast. If, as he claims, there is enough fraudulent/irregular activities to swap tightly fought state results from Dem to GOP then he could be elected President. More than a few dozen instances of fraud then a full audit of every vote nationwide must be done to ascertain the scale of wrongdoing. After the Russia fiasco we know the left take alleged election interference seriously enough to waste many years over. A full audit now would only take a few days.

 Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.

[stevenl]

4 minutes ago, shdmn said:

I would love to see him refuse to leave and be dragged out kicking and screaming.  It would be a fitting end to this reality tv show of his.

 

20 minutes ago, dexterm said:

Of course he won't concede. His followers think Trump is a king.

 

"Lindsay Graham (C) has been a royal supporter of President Trump"

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/election-us-2020-54786937

 

I'm sure the BBC will correct the typo soon.

 

So would I. But not conceding also means not resigning. I would also love to see that, but I simply can't imagine Trump not resigning in order to be able to receive a pardon for possible federal crimes from Pence.

[placeholder]

If there's one thing we can learn from Donald Trump's reaction to this election it's this:

Men are too emotional to be President.

(Stolen from Michael J. Steudeman's twitter account)

[EVENKEEL]

 

x

Edited November 8, 2020 by EVENKEEL

[PatOngo]

44 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Hopefully everybody agrees the election result must be seen as legitimate. Proper investigations into Trump's claims must be made, and fast. If, as he claims, there is enough fraudulent/irregular activities to swap tightly fought state results from Dem to GOP then he could be elected President. More than a few dozen instances of fraud then a full audit of every vote nationwide must be done to ascertain the scale of wrongdoing. After the Russia fiasco we know the left take alleged election interference seriously enough to waste many years over. A full audit now would only take a few days.

 Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.

 

It's great how he continues to make a fool of himself, very entertaining!

[PatOngo]

27 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

 

x

Agree totally! Great comment, keep them all like this! 

[Tug]

ya lost baby man don’t let the door hit ya in the rear end on the way out and imo if you keep up this damaging bs insert a large boot in lew of aforementioned door!

[tonray]

Get ready for 2024...

 

"The Donald" vs Ophra Winfrey

 

At least it'll be entertaining

[animalmagic]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Hopefully everybody agrees the election result must be seen as legitimate. Proper investigations into Trump's claims must be made, and fast. If, as he claims, there is enough fraudulent/irregular activities to swap tightly fought state results from Dem to GOP then he could be elected President. More than a few dozen instances of fraud then a full audit of every vote nationwide must be done to ascertain the scale of wrongdoing. After the Russia fiasco we know the left take alleged election interference seriously enough to waste many years over. A full audit now would only take a few days.

 Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.

Nothing to hide nothing to fear - a bit like tax returns?

[herfiehandbag]

28 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

 

It's great how he continues to make a fool of himself, very entertaining!

Very likely he will continue playing golf, sulking and the occasional Twitter storm until January 20.

 

Perhaps no more "big announcements" with concerned and hurt expressions  at the White House, he may have noticed that they just lead people to take the <deleted>!

 

And then, inauguration day, "The Final Meltdown"

[dexterm]

Well his legal team has made a start to fight the election count. Giuliani just held a major press conference in the car park of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping store, located between a crematorium and a sex shop.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/08/the-other-four-seasons-trump-team-holds-press-conference-at-suburban-garden-centre

 

Looks like some aide failed to book the Four Seasons Hotel.

[CharlieH]

Trolling content removed.

[cmarshall]

Whether he concedes or nor doesn't matter in the least.  

[DoctorG]

1 minute ago, cmarshall said:

Whether he concedes or nor doesn't matter in the least.  

You are correct of course, but he will do it eventually I feel.

[cmarshall]

1 minute ago, DoctorG said:

You are correct of course, but he will do it eventually I feel.

 

The only Americans who would like to see Trump concede are the people who don't matter in the least to Trump or Trumpism.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Hopefully everybody agrees the election result must be seen as legitimate. Proper investigations into Trump's claims must be made, and fast. If, as he claims, there is enough fraudulent/irregular activities to swap tightly fought state results from Dem to GOP then he could be elected President. More than a few dozen instances of fraud then a full audit of every vote nationwide must be done to ascertain the scale of wrongdoing. After the Russia fiasco we know the left take alleged election interference seriously enough to waste many years over. A full audit now would only take a few days.

 Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.

It would help his case if he would present some evidence. But until now he didn't do that. Why? Probably because there is no (known) evidence to support his accusations - as usual.

That the vote count would change from red to blue when vote-in ballots were counted was predicted widely. Trump told his supporters not to use vote-in ballots and it seems that is what they did. That's why many more of them are blue. No surprise there.

[OneMoreFarang]

8 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

Whether he concedes or nor doesn't matter in the least.  

It matters for the image of the USA worldwide and for a smooth transition period.

But obviously Trump doesn't care about these little details.

[RJRS1301]

46 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

 

It's great how he continues to make a fool of himself, very entertaining!

I think it is sad and reflective of a person living in another reality.

 

I think due process and formal declarations need to be made, then let us see how he reacts.

 

[cmarshall]

3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It matters for the image of the USA worldwide and for a smooth transition period.

But obviously Trump doesn't care about these little details.

Certainly there are plenty of reasons why we would like Trump to concede.  I am pointing out that there are no benefits to Trump.  So, he is not going to.

Edited November 9, 2020 by cmarshall

[RJRS1301]

Have the merchandising people thought about what to with all the left over useless unsaleable merchandise?

Will the Chinese ( I assume) manufacturers accept them on no sale but return policy?

Perhaps they can be given to the poor Mexicans walking in the heat to protect them from the sun and attempting to gain entry?

 

[mtls2005]

Seems to be a push pull inside the WH with jared/ivanka and melania urging concession, and don jr and eric wanting to fight.

 

Maybe hope hicks (wife #4?) can soothe trump?

 

Don't care if he concedes, would like to see him satisfy his oath of office through Jan 20.

 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by mtls2005

[cmarshall]

18 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It would help his case if he would present some evidence. But until now he didn't do that. Why? Probably because there is no (known) evidence to support his accusations - as usual.

That the vote count would change from red to blue when vote-in ballots were counted was predicted widely. Trump told his supporters not to use vote-in ballots and it seems that is what they did. That's why many more of them are blue. No surprise there.

 

Evidence or even winning the court cases are not part of Trump's strategy.  The strategy is through recounts and court challenges to delay the certification of the electoral votes until the deadline of Dec. 8.  If by that date there is not certified count in some of the states with Republican-controlled legislatures (WI, MI, PA) the legislature could conceivably step in and declare that to avoid disenfranchising the entire state, they will pick the electors, who will then cast their votes for Trump.  So then the Democrat governor exercises her authority to certify the Democrat slate of electors per the popular vote, and Congress on Jan 6 faces two competing slates of electors for the state.  In that case the Senate and the House separately vote which slate to accept.  If, as is likely, the Rs still control the Senate and the Ds the House, then they do not agree and there is no way to reconcile the discrepancy.  If this scenario plays out in enough states to prevent Biden from getting the necessary 270 majority of the EC, the House elects the president with each state getting one vote and Trump remains president.

 

If you imagine that a state legislature wouldn't dare steal the vote in this manner, you might note that the Republican legislature in Florida was in the process of doing exactly then when the Supreme Court stole the election for them.

 

This strategy looked a lot more plausible for Trump when it looked like the EV count would be very close.  Now that Biden is probably going to get 306 EVs, it's looking more difficult to pull out.  But, and this is the important point to remember, Trump is still actively pursuing this strategy.

Edited November 9, 2020 by cmarshall

[Tagged]

It is amazing the worlds leading country, have to deal with voting froud in these days. Huh, incredible at 2020 nobody came up with a system that was bullit proof. 

 

How to win a trade war when showcase for the whole world your weakness

[PremiumLane]

5 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I didn't do any dancing but I am anticipating the free stuff to come as are many of joe's supporters. Man I love free stuff.

shame you are not a corporation or part of the mega rich, you get loads of free stuff then ???? 

[RJRS1301]

8 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I didn't do any dancing but I am anticipating the free stuff to come as are many of joe's supporters. Man I love free stuff.

Plenty of MAGA merch will be available for you I am sure. You could do the car boot sales of redunant stuff

One or two containers sir??

You pay the shipping

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by RJRS1301

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

And where is this great non-concession effort? Surely in the office, mobilizing his team, on the phone with lawyers, officials, dispatching them to election offices, demanding answers? No, he’s on the golf course again. One of the many issues with his presidency.