Trump family split over whether Donald should concede to Biden
CNN is reporting an internal split among Donald Trump’s own family as to whether the president should keep spouting unlikely and embarrassing claims of massive election fraud or give in to inevitability and concede the race to his Democratic opponent former Vice President Joe Biden.
According to the cable news network, both son-in-law Jared Kushner and spouse Melania Trump are urging the president to throw in the towel and accept his ignominious defeat.
Donald Trump Jr. and his younger brother Eric want their father to continue to fight the validity of the results through a series of lawsuits and reject the projections from every major news organization — including their virtual in-house state media over at Fox News — that called the election for Biden once Donald Trump’s chances diminished to a mathematical impossibility.
No mention of whether Ivanka Trump has sided with her brothers or her husband in this reported divide, but if the split is between those who face legal liability once the president’s immunity from prosecution disappears and those who may remain unworried over future criminal charges, she may want to stay in her brothers’ camp in this argument.
CNN’s sources in the White House say that behind closed doors Trump is not denying that he lost the election despite continuing to publicly try to declare himself the winner without the votes to back up his assertions.
“[Trump is] continuing to push his attorneys to pursue legal challenges that would delay formal certification of the results, and he has made no public indication that he is ready to accept the results of the election,” CNN reports.
Jason Miller, a Trump campaign spokesperson, immediately took to Twitter to deny the news network’s assertions about the divisions within the president’s inner circle between blood relations and those who joined the family by marriage.
This story is not true. Given undetermined electoral outcomes in multiple states and serious voting irregularities and lack of transparency in others, Jared has advised @realDonaldTrump to pursue all available legal remedies to ensure accuracy. https://t.co/O8XgClHQMi
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) November 8, 2020
Add your name to tell Trump: You Lost! Concede!
CNN responded to Miller’s accusations of “fake news” by saying that it stood by its reporting as 100% accurate.
So far, judging from the president’s numerous statements continuing to claim victory when the “legal ballots” are counted and his frequent screams of “FRAUD!” and “STOLEN ELECTION” in his Twitter posts, Trump seems to be listening to his male progeny.
Given that his campaign is continuing to solicit funds from supporters by using the claims of a massive Democratic conspiracy to steal the election — highly unlikely in swing states with Republican-controlled legislatures like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona — it’s unlikely that Trump has any incentive to cease his efforts at denial and concede defeat any time soon.
Instead, he’s likely to continue to divide the nation as Biden tries to bring together its alienated factions, and humiliate himself further in the process.
“Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.”—Pete Seeger
It’s time to simply ignore Donald Trump until he gets too tired of whining and lapses into a petulant silence.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by Kaitlan Collins, Kate Bennett, Jeremy Diamond, and Kevin Liptak at CNN.
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