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US President Donald Trump has refused to admit defeat in Tuesday’s election. As of Sunday, he has not made the traditional call to election winner Joe Biden, while at the same time refraining from public appearances with the exception of a short speech on Thursday night local time.
The reason has been the shock, despair and panic after the election result that was a disappointment for Donald Trump. That’s what New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman says on “The Daily” podcast. He talks about the hopes that were collapsed in relation to the results that are presented in the different states.
– On the night of Election Day, President Trump was in the White House. She looked at the vote reports with family and a very small number of advisers coming and going, says Maggie Haberman.
The atmosphere was great. The initially reported results came as no surprise. On the contrary: when the results came from Florida, which is considered a particularly important state because of the many electoral votes that the winner receives, Donald Trump saw it as a great victory.
– At first they were very excited because the first important state that was decided was Florida. And got the president. Much of the reporting was that Biden won Florida and would win by a wide margin, says Maggie Haberman.
President Donald Trump on the golf course on Saturday.
Photo: Al Drago / AFP
Donald Trump also saw the gain as another sign of what he means is a conspiracy against him: that the media and the political establishment would be against him and in various ways would make him appear on worse days in, for example, broadcasts. television, according to Maggie Haberman. Now that Florida still won, he took it as confirmation of this.
– He’s very superstitious. Winning Florida reminded him of his victory in the 2016 election when his victory in Florida was decisive. So he and his staff felt this would be a repeat of that night, she describes.
But then came the shock. Fox News, which during Donald Trump’s time as president has often had a soft line against the president even as he has publicly expressed outright lies, suddenly proclaimed challenger and Democrat Joe Biden as the winner in the state of Arizona, who also he has been considered the decisive candidate in this year’s elections. .
Then everything fell apart.
– The feeling of excitement and joy was completely pierced, says Maggie Haberman in reference to the people around Donald Trump.
But the president’s staff immediately set out to try to end the situation and tried to use their contacts at the otherwise complacent television station owned by eccentric billionaire Rupert Murdoch.
– They desperately tried to contact Fox to have the evaluation withdrawn. Jared Kushner, the president’s counselor and son-in-law named Rupert Murdoch. But it got nowhere, says Maggie Haberman.
Donald Trump on his way to the White House on Saturday.
Photo: Olivier Douliery / TT
A few hours later, the US news agency Associated Press, AP, made the same assessment regarding Arizona.
Saturday came finally, the message of several leading media outlets. Joe Biden had also won the state of Pennsylvania, and thus the presidential election. But Donald Trump has still chosen not to admit defeat, and has consistently claimed on social media that the election was rigged in various ways.
– You’d be surprised how many of the White House workers and campaign workers who thought it was a matter of course that Donald Trump would win. Many are surprised, says Maggie Haberman.
