Trump raises the idea of ​​the White House in 2024

WASHINGTON – Still furious and embittered a month after his electoral loss to Joe Biden, Donald Trump is openly reflecting on a second run for the U.S. presidency in 2024.

Refusing to accept defeat, Trump’s lawyers and supporters continued Wednesday to file lawsuits and even call for extraordinary intervention, such as martial law, to force a new vote.

And Trump released a remarkable 46-minute video in which he again claimed victory was stolen from him in a “rigged” election.

But at a Christmas party at the White House on Tuesday, the president suggested that he may have lost this battle, but that he would not quietly step down as a single-term president.

“It has been an incredible four years. We are trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years, ”he told the guests.

The comment was perhaps the closest the 74-year-old Trump has come to admitting that his quixotic month-long quest to reverse Biden’s victory has failed.

All six disputed states have now certified their accounts, and the national count gives Biden nearly seven million more votes than Trump, an insurmountable margin of four percentage points.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Bill Barr stated that the Justice Department had found no significant evidence of election fraud.

Meanwhile, Biden continued to prepare to take office on January 20, telling The New York Times in an interview how he plans to revive the economy.

“I want to make sure that we are going to fight like hell by investing in America first,” Biden said.

– ‘So much evidence’ –

Trump still refuses to publicly admit his defeat on November 3, forcing him to step down after a term.

He has remained locked in the White House, limiting his public appearances and apparently holding few official meetings, while posting furious tweets about alleged electoral fraud.

But according to media reports, she is preparing for her departure, holding talks about issuing pretrial pardons for her three adult children, Don Jr, Eric and Ivanka, for Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, and her own personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

On Wednesday he posted a formal speech on the election on Twitter.

“This may be the most important speech I’ve ever made,” he began.

He recited a litany of complaints about the election, saying that Democrats used the Covid-19 crisis to force the widespread use of mailed ballots, which he said were fraudulently rigged to support Biden.

“This election was rigged, everyone knows it,” he said.

“It is statistically impossible for the person, me, who led the charge, to lose.”

“We have a lot of evidence,” Trump said.

Supporters continued to fight the results. Giuliani appeared before the Michigan state legislature on Wednesday to present his allegations of wrongdoing.

In Georgia, another lawyer linked to the Trump campaign, Sidney Powell, spoke at a rally by supporters who said his votes were not counted.

But Barr’s statement, in a break with the president, on Tuesday went too far to undermine his claims.

“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have had a different result in the elections,” he said.

– Someone is going to get shot ‘-

The campaign to delay and litigate the election results, however, was turning in bewildering directions.

In Georgia, still facing another vote on two highly contested US Senate seats in early January, officials said Trump’s rhetoric was dangerous and fueled potential violence against officials.

“Someone is going to get hurt. Someone is going to get shot. Someone is going to die. It’s not right, ”voting system manager Gabriel Sterling said Tuesday.

And two prominent retired three-star generals, including Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, chillingly called for Trump to declare martial law and for the military to oversee a new election.

– Trump addressed Georgia –

Trump’s immediate plans were to head to Georgia on Saturday to campaign alongside the two Republican Senate candidates, key to the party maintaining control of the US Senate.

But beyond that, it was unknown when he could openly accept his loss or map out his post-presidency plans.

According to NBC News, Trump has discussed the possibility with his close associates of launching his 2024 campaign on January 20, the day Biden will be inaugurated as president.

In theory, nothing prevents another race. The Constitution of the United States restricts presidents to two four-year terms, but does not require that they be consecutive.

But only one president did it: Grover Cleveland, in the late 1800s.

The real estate mogul faces the challenge of losing the spotlight and his grip on the Republican Party, as Washington turns to the Biden administration.

However, he retains strong support among voters, who could continue to support each other and make him a continuing force in Republican politics.

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