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Donald Trump never admits defeat, but he faces a tough choice now that Democrat Joe Biden has won the White House: concede graciously for the good of the nation, or decide not to and be evicted anyway.
After nearly four tortuous days of counting yielded a victory for Biden on Saturday, Trump continued to insist the race was not over.
He launched unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud, promised a series of legal actions, and released tweets in capital letters falsely insisting that he had “WON THIS ELECTION, BY FAR.
Trump is not expected to formally relent, according to people close to him, but he is likely to reluctantly leave the White House at the end of his term.
His continued efforts to paint the elections as unfair are seen as both an effort to calm a wounded ego and to show his loyal fan base that he is still fighting. That could be key to keeping them energized for what comes next.
“He intends to fight,” Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow said when it became clear that the president was heading for defeat.
When asked if Trump would ever admit, the president’s longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone, whose prison sentence was commuted by Trump in July, said: “I doubt it.”
Stone claimed that Biden would, as a result, have “a cloud over his presidency with half the people in the country believing he was illegitimately elected.”
The allies suggested that if Trump wants to launch a media empire in the next few years, he has an incentive to prolong the drama. So, too, if you intend to keep the door open for a possible comeback in 2024, it would be only a year older than Mr. Biden now.
There are many in his inner circle who goad him, including his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. The former New York mayor has promised to provide the president with evidence of voter fraud, but has produced little, even during a press conference he held Saturday in the parking lot of a small Philadelphia landscaping company.
Trump’s adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric also urged their father to keep fighting and challenged Republicans to support them.
Smooth transition
But other political allies and White House officials have pressed Trump to change his tune and commit to a smooth transition.
They have emphasized to him that history will be a harsh judge of whatever action he takes that is seen as undermining his successor. And he has been advised to deliver a speech next week pledging to support the transition.
Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner has told others that he has urged the president to accept the outcome of the contest, even if Trump does not accept how it was achieved.
On Fox News, where prime-time anchors wield enormous influence over Trump, Laura Ingraham expressed the president’s belief that the election had been unfair, while pleading with him to consider his legacy and preserve his status as republican. Kingmaker of the party: by leaving office gracefully.
“If the time comes to accept an unfavorable outcome in this election, and we hope it never comes, President Trump must do so with the same grace and composure that he demonstrated in that town hall with Savannah Guthrie,” he said Thursday. .
“President Trump’s legacy will only be more meaningful if he focuses on moving the country forward.”
This story is based on interviews with more than a dozen Trump advisers and allies, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.
The fact that the peaceful transfer of power was even in doubt reflects the rule-breaking habits of the president, who even in victory never admitted that he had lost the popular vote in 2016.
Most attendees believed that the president would take the weekend to decide on a plan, which will surely involve more legal action. But some aides believe that legal skirmishes have more to do with giving the appearance of a fight than producing results.
There were some indications that Trump was moving in a less controversial direction, even as he continued to complain angrily to his aides, reviving old complaints about the Russia investigation that began under President Barack Obama.
In a statement Friday, Trump suggested that he would use all avenues of the law to challenge the election result. The allies interpreted it as grudging acknowledgment of the likely outcome.
“We will continue this process in all aspects of the law to ensure that the American people have confidence in our government,” Trump said in the statement.
“I will never stop fighting for you and our nation.”
The White House issued a terse statement on Saturday saying that the president “will accept the results of free and fair elections” and that the administration “is following all legal requirements.”
Still, there were concerns that Trump’s rhetoric would inflame tensions in a nation that was already bitterly divided before the election.
Biden’s campaign made it clear that his patience had limits.
“As we said on July 19, the American people will decide this election,” Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said Friday.
“And the US government is perfectly capable of escorting intruders out of the White House.”
– AP
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