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(CNN) – The inner circle of US President Donald Trump is beginning to split over his continued refusal to accept the 2020 election results, as Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump advised him to accept the president-elect’s victory. Joe Biden and his grown sons put pressure on him. and allies to continue fighting.
Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, approached him to concede, two sources told CNN. The first lady, according to a separate source familiar with the talks, has said privately that the time has come for him to accept electoral defeat.
Meanwhile, Trump’s two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have urged allies to keep pushing and pressured Republicans and supporters to publicly reject the results, even as CNN and other news organizations were projecting the race. by Biden on Saturday.
The president, who was at his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday when the race was called, has not denied the election result privately, even when he does so publicly, sources told CNN. But he continues to pressure his lawyers to pursue legal challenges that would delay the formal certification of the results, and he has not given any public indication that he is ready to accept the election results.
Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller in a tweet Sunday morning denied that Kushner had reached out to Trump, although CNN maintains its reporting. “This story is not true,” Miller said. “Jared has advised @realDonaldTrump to seek all available legal remedies to ensure accuracy.”
Trump claimed in a campaign statement, moments after CNN and other networks projected that Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, that Biden “is rushing to pose as the winner” and that the race is on. ” Far from being”. finished.”
Tracking the results of the presidential elections
“I will not rest until the American people have the honest vote count that they deserve and that democracy demands,” Trump said in the statement, explaining that the campaign’s legal battle will begin Monday.
Biden-Harris deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said Saturday night that there had been no communication between Biden and Trump, or between any representative from either campaign, as the race was called earlier that day.
And Biden’s senior campaign adviser, Symone Sanders, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of The Union” on Sunday that “several Hill Republicans have reached out,” but said, “I don’t think any of the White House has done it. ” “
Biden won the presidency on Saturday after the battleground state of Pennsylvania pressed the Democrat on the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who recently tested positive for coronavirus, discussed next steps with the legal team on Saturday.
Meanwhile, some members of Trump’s party on Sunday voiced opposition to the president granting the election, urging him not to.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the president’s closest allies in the Senate, said “the president must not budge” during an interview on Fox News.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who was also Trump’s former main rival, also advised against the concession, saying it would be “premature.”
And Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the Republican leadership in the Senate, failed to acknowledge Sunday that Biden is president-elect, citing both legal challenges initiated by Trump’s attorneys in states across the country and the counting process. votes in progress. as reasons.
Trump’s adult sons keep up the fight
Trump’s two adult sons have been key voices in urging the president and his allies to continue to challenge the results of the 2020 election, according to multiple sources.
Beyond public stances on social media, both Don Jr. and Eric Trump have been digging in their heels, seeking to garner broad support from the Republican Party to contest the election results and tell allies that they truly believe the elections. elections were fraudulent.
In recent conversations, Eric Trump has told his allies that he believes the election was “stolen” from us, according to a source familiar with his comments, and vowed to fight to nullify the results.
And in the days since Don Jr. called out Republicans, and particularly “2024 GOP hopefuls,” for not offering enough support for the president’s claims, the eldest son has been lobbying among senators and governors to publish statements of support. , according to people familiar with the conversations.
So far, there has only been a moderate wave of outside support from Republicans, although some, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, have said the legal maneuvers must be resolved before elections can be called. And South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who is said to be considering running in 2024, appeared on ABC Sunday to say the president deserves his day in court.
Many other Republicans are also increasingly frustrated with the lobbying campaign and the lack of evidence of voter fraud presented thus far by the Trump team, with some prominent Republicans urging the president’s team to shut up or shut up.
But Trump’s children are not the only ones encouraging the president to wage a legal war instead of giving in. Meadows is also said to be fomenting an uphill legal fight, as are Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, and political advisers to President Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
In the days after the election, Don Jr. traveled to Georgia, where two congressional races, one of which has already advanced to a runoff on January 5 and the other likely, could determine control of the Senate. While there, he held a press conference in which he denounced the vote-counting process in the state. People familiar with the matter said he also held meetings focused on upcoming Senate races.
The president has privately expressed his frustration that some Republican leaders appear willing to give up his career to focus on the Georgia elections, said people familiar with the talks, who insisted they focus on him.
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