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Trump's refusal to believe the election results was premeditated. He had heard about the "red mirage" the likelihood that early vote counts would tip more Republican than the final tallies and he decided to exploit it.
As the clock ticked over into the first minutes of Nov. 4, Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani ranted to top campaign aides: "There's no way he lost; this thing must have been stolen. Just say we won Michigan! Just say we won Georgia! Just say we won the election! He needs to go out and claim victory." Trump's campaign manager Bill Stepien later told associates: "That was f****** crazy."
Quote:
After a toxic Sept. 29 election debate with Biden, Trump's internal poll numbers nose-dived. He started choreographing election night in earnest during the second week of October, as he recovered from COVID-19.
His former chief of staff Reince Priebus told a friend he was stunned when Trump called him around that time and acted out his script, including walking up to a podium and prematurely declaring victory on election night if it looked like he was ahead.
https://www.axios.com/trump-election-premeditated-lie-ebaf4a1f-46bf-4c37-ba0d-3ed5536ef537.html
Yes, Jonathan Swan has rock solid sources in the White House. All his reporting from the past 4 years has checked out. If you still disbelieve it, you'll hear from these staffers under oath at the Senate trial.