Donald Trump Reportedly Plans To Declare Victory Before All Votes Are Counted
Update: President Trump has since denied the idea that he would declare victory before all votes have been counted, calling it a “false report.”
“We’ll see what happens. I think it’s a terrible thing when ballots can be collected after an election. I think it’s a terrible thing when people or states are allowed to tabulate ballots for a long period time after the election is over,” he told reporters.
President Donald Trump had reportedly told advisers that he plans to declare victory in the 2020 presidential election before all the votes are counted, according to Axios.
According to the publication’s sources, in private conversations with confidants, Trump suggested that he’ll declare victory on election night if it looks like he is “ahead” of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The commander-in-chief reportedly “talked through this scenario in some detail,” telling advisers that he may walk up to a podium on Tuesday evening and declare himself victorious.
To execute his plan, Trump would need to have early commanding leads in states like Iowa, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans will cast their ballots via mail, which means that the votes cast in person will be counted first.
In some states, like Pennsylvania, law prevents officials from counting mail-in ballots before Election Day, which suggests that Americans may have to wait for weeks to know who won in key battlegrounds.
“If it’s a close race this could also be true for other states, given the record numbers of Americans who voted by mail this year,” the report said.
As Axios noted, Republicans have spent weeks trying to cast doubt on the legitimacy of mail-in voting, laying the groundwork for this strategy.
In a recent interview, senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller expressed confidence about the president’s electoral prospects, predicting more than 290 electoral votes for the commander-in-chief and claiming that Democrats are “just going to try to steal it back.”
This seems to confirm reporting from The New York Times. On Saturday, the publication reported on Trump’s alleged plan to steal another term in the White House.
“Trump advisers said their best hope was if the president wins Ohio and Florida is too close to call early in the night, depriving Mr. Biden a swift victory and giving Mr. Trump the room to undermine the validity of uncounted mail-in ballots in the days after.”
Trump has repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power, fueling speculation that he may refuse to leave office without issue. Per CNN, on at least eight occasions, he suggested that he would refuse to leave the White House should he lose.
Democrats have allegedly come up with multiple plans to counter Trump if he tries to cling on to power. In addition, Joe Biden’s team has reportedly hired a team of lawyers to help in legal battles.
