Jimmy Kimmel Catches Donald Trump Saying the 'Truth' in Rare Moment: "Was That So Hard?"
Nobody else can read Donald Trump the way Jimmy Kimmel can. The late-night host and the politician often lock horns and slam one another on their respective platforms. In most recent news, the comedian shared a moment of rarity where he spotted the Republican nominee accepting that he 'lost' the 2020 elections, something that Trump has been denying since.
The host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! highlighted a moment from Trump's presidential rally and said, "I don't know if he had a mental lapse or if he just forgot to keep lying, but ... he said he lost," referring to the fact the ex-president contradicted his usual rhetoric of the 2020 election was stolen from him. "OK, good. Was that so hard? I mean, he's finally at the acceptance stage of grief," Kimmel quipped, as per HuffPost.
For context, in a recent North Carolina rally, as per NBC News, Trump, "We did much better, by the way, in the election of 2020 than we did in 2016, just remember that. Millions and millions of votes more... But they beat us by a whisker. They beat us just by a little whisker. He beat us from the basement." Trump admitted to having lost the election to his Democratic rival Joe Biden — and it was this admission that left Kimmel dumbfounded.
The 2024 presidential hopeful has repeatedly refused to accept the 2020 election results. Instead, he frequently labeled it a conspiracy by the Democrats, calling it names like 'stolen elections' or 'election interference.' Many have also speculated how likely it is that the ex-president would choose to not accept the 2024 results, should they not come in his favor.
What's worth noting is that this isn't the first time Trump has corrected his usually skewed narrative of what went down in 2020. For instance, Trump acknowledged he did not win the 2020 elections to podcaster Lex Fridman, accepting that he lost by a 'whisker.' When Fridman asked Trump about his expectations of the presidential debate with his new rival Kamala Harris, he boasted he's done 'well with debates.'
THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2020
Trump then pivoted to the 2020 elections, saying, "I became president. Then the second time I got millions more votes than I got the first time," referring to the number of votes he received. I was told if I got 63 million, which is what I got the first time, 'You would win. You can't not win.' And I got millions more votes than that and lost by a whisker," as per a different report from NBC News.
In 2020, the ex-commander-in-chief received around 74 million votes nationally and compared to him, his rival Biden surpassed the number with 81 million votes. Although his admission is contradictory to his usual claims of 'rigged' elections, later in the podcast episode, he again cast doubt, reiterating, "I think the election was a fraud, and many people felt it was that, and they wanted answers."
