Former President Donald Trump allegedly told his aides “We’re not leaving,” even after being defeated by PresidentJoe Biden in the 2020 election, according to a new book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
“We’re never leaving,” Trump told a member of his staff. “How can you leave when you won an election?”
Haberman’s book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America will be released for purchase on October 4.
The reporter delves into Trump’s unwillingness to admit his loss in 2020 and the actions he took in the days following the election.
Haberman writes that Trump seemed to acknowledge his loss at first, telling those around him, “We did our best,” and “I thought we had it,” but then his outlook seemed to change.
He reportedly asked Republican National Committee chairperson Ronna McDaniel, “Why should I leave if they stole it from me?”
The book also noted that Trump’s position on whether he would leave or not contrasted with his words to the media during that time where he insisted that he would “certainly” leave, after Biden’s win was certified.
Since then, Trump has insisted that the election was “rigged” and “stolen” from him.
“We will never give up, we will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved,” Trump told his supporters at the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, as the joint session of Congress was certifying Biden’s win.
So far, there has been no evidence of widespread election fraud.
