Trump Makes An Unexpected Assurance About Future Results
Since Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, things have been a bit messy. Trump has refused to acknowledge the results of the election, according to NPR, and will not concede. Trump's ex-wife, Ivana Trump, isn't a bit surprised by this, noting that her former husband hates to lose.
She clearly knows him well, as her words have proven true. Trump has amassed a legal team to challenge the results, alleging voter fraud and allegations that the machines designed to count the votes were tampered with, according to The Washington Post. The Post also notes that these statements were made without any evidence. Part of the problem with Trump's legal efforts to change the results of the election has to do with the fact that any reputable Republican lawyers are keeping a safe distance from him, as the National Review notes.
So who does Trump have left? There's certainly Rudy Giuliani, with his Four Seasons Total Landscaping platform and his running hair dye. Even members of Trump's own family are beginning to push him towards accepting the results. His wife Melania Trump, is certainly pushing for this, as is Jared Kushner, his son-in-law.
This encouragement might be slowly eroding Trump's wall of denial. Trump made a surprising announcement that sounds like he might leave the White House eventually. Here's what went down.
Trump's unexpected response
Donald Trump made a surprising statement from the White House on Nov. 26, 2020. Electoral college votes are due on Dec. 14, 2020, according to AS, with many wondering if the electoral college results will change the president's opinion.
A reporter asked Trump if he'll respect the results of the electoral college and Trump's answer was unexpected. "Certainly I will, and you know that. I will and, you know that," he said, according to CNN.
However, he also added his usual, unsubstantiated comments about voter fraud. "It's going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud." Trump reiterated this saying: "As to whether or not we can get this apparatus moving quickly — because time isn't on our side, everything else is on our side, facts are on our side, this was a massive fraud."
As the National Review reminds, this kind of talk from Trump is beyond unfortunate, nothing "dishonest assertions like this... mislead good people." The outlet called Trump's behavior since the 2020 presidential election "disgraceful conduct" and argued that he should have long ago conceded to Joe Biden.
While Trump might begrudgingly leave the White House in January 2021, he has made overt statements that he hopes to be back. Here's what he said.
Will Donald Trump be back in 2024?
It looks like Donald Trump doesn't want to be done being president, and we don't mean just his refusal to concede to Joe Biden. According to CNN, Trump has explicitly stated that he's planning on running again in 2024. At a White House Christmas party on Dec. 1, 2020, Trump said, "It's been an amazing four years. We are trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I'll see you in four years." Oh boy.
There is considerable speculation that Trump won't even attend Joe Biden's inauguration but instead will announce his 2024 campaign on Jan. 20, 2021, the exact day of Biden's swearing-in, according to The Daily Beast. Trump's refusal to attend the swearing-in of Biden would be, as NBC notes, a significant break in tradition. Though there have been rare cases where former presidents have missed the signing-ins of newly elected presidents — the most recent example comes from Richard Nixon, who missed the swearing-in of Gerald Ford — it would be a breach in tradition.
Trump isn't one for tradition, as his last four years have shown. In fact, there is a compelling theory that Trump is financially profiting from his refusal to concede.
Is Trump making money as a loser?
Donald Trump's debt has been estimated to sit at $1 billion, according to a report published by Forbes in October 2020. While the article points out that he's not completely broke — contrary to some floating speculation — he is, obviously, in major debt.
Trump's political action committee, Save America PAC, according to The Washington Post, has raised over $170 million since Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. What's even more shocking is that, as Philip Bump of The Washington Post notes, Trump can use this money on literally anything he wants, so long as he reports it as income. The outlet notes that Trump can make "payments directly" to himself with this fund, a practice that the outlet summarized as "monetiz[ing] assaults on our democracy."
To make matters even more worrisome, with his not-so-sly hints that he's got his eye on the White House yet again, Trump could continue this source of funding until 2024. If we have learned anything over the past four years, it's that nothing is out of the question.