What has Donald Trump occupied his days with since his defeat?

 

We have hardly seen him since November 3, polling day. He golfed twice this weekend in Virginia. Monday, he had nothing on the program. His last official briefing with his intelligence services, if his diary is to be believed, dates back to 1is October. As for the Covid management unit, he has not consulted it for months … The campaign has completely monopolized him, and it is not over. According to his relatives, he spends his days glued to the TV screens calling his confidants to organize his defense. And, of course, he tweets to expose massive electoral fraud and accuse Democrats of “stealing” his place, even though there is no evidence of improprieties.

In short, a week after the election, Donald Trump has still not conceded defeat. “That word isn’t even in our vocabulary right now,” said Jason Miller, one of his advisers. Usually, the defeated president telephones his rival to congratulate him and gives a friendly speech in which he calls to forget the divisions. For now, he acts as if he has been re-elected and has just sacked the Minister of Justice. Others are in the hot seat, including Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, and the boss of the CIA.

Within the White House, there are apparently two opposing clans. One pushes him to admit the result of the election, aware that there is little chance of changing it. The other, led in particular by his two sons and Rudolph Giuliani, his lawyer, encourages him to do everything possible to contest the ballot. For her part, Melania posted a tweet that supports her husband.

Betrayed by Fox News

Over the days, however, the president appears more and more isolated. Since the election, we have seen very little Mike Pence, the vice-president. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, who has courted his American counterpart over and over, tweeted that he “looked forward to working with” Biden. Late Monday afternoon, Fox News stopped broadcasting a press conference by the White House spokeswoman that brooded over baseless fraud accusations. “Unless she has more details to back her up, I cannot in good faith continue to show you this press briefing,” the presenter said. Fox News which censors the president, we will have seen it all!

In recent days, Donald Trump has reportedly discussed the possibility of new electoral meetings to mobilize his troops. And his team sends ten texts and emails a day to his supporters to solicit donations for his “Election Defense Fund”. He also announced new legal remedies. Despite his threats, he still hasn’t kicked off a vote recount in Wisconsin, perhaps because he’s a little scared off by the $ 3 million bill.

The legal offensive is decidedly less sophisticated than the enormous machine set up by James Baker in 2000 in Florida. This great political figure, who was notably Secretary of State to Bush Sr., had assembled in record time an armada of Republican stars of the bar, among them, three future members of the Supreme Court, to fight Al Gore.

Donald Trump appointed David Bossie, one of his advisers who, just after his appointment, tested positive. The most visible lawyer so far is the unmistakable Rudolph Giuliani, the ex-mayor of New York and the president’s damned soul, known for his punchy statements. On Saturday, President Trump announced via Twitter “a big press conference” at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia hosted by Giuliani. He then corrected his post by saying it would take place not at the fancy hotel, but in front of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping, a nurseryman wedged between a sex shop and a crematorium. Is this a mistake of the teams? In any case, the twittosphere has made it hot.

Since the election, Trump’s lawyers have launched several appeals, but with little success. Some were rejected by the judges for lack of evidence. To the chagrin of his supporters who denounce the lack of preparation of the teams of lawyers. “These remedies are designed to allow Trump to save face and so that he can say in the end that he lost, because the elections were not played fair”, summarizes one of his advisers, au Washington Post.

Donald Trump can at least boast of maintaining his power over the party. Apart from a few pundits, including ex-President George W. Bush, who called on him to admit defeat, most Republicans have remained silent.

It promises a choppy handover. President Trump has banned members of his various ministries from cooperating with Joe Biden’s teams, as tradition dictates, to prepare for the transition. A sign that the president is still not quite sure to get back on track, he would have, according to the Axios site, already said that he thought to represent himself in 2024.

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