PoliticoDonald Trump’s post-election marching orders: dispute ballots, contest results
- While the president falsely tweeted about voter fraud, aides were contesting results in Arizona and talking about challenging results in places like Wisconsin
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Nancy Cook on politico.com on November 4, 2020.
A flurry of tweets falsely claiming votes were disappearing. A conference call to insist the president has “the math” to not only clinch the remaining swing states, but to reverse a state that has already gone to Biden.
Trumpworld started unveiling its post-Election Day strategy on Wednesday morning as President Donald Trump and his aides awoke following a late night of inconclusive presidential election results.
Trump himself did not tweet until after 10am, a rarity for the always-on president, and donors and surrogates did not receive talking points or direction from the campaign until midday, while officials tried to settle on a plan.
But once things got rolling, the marching orders quickly became clear. Cast doubt on the integrity of the hundreds of thousands of ballots yet to be counted. Contest the results in places like Arizona, which was called on election night for Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic rival for president. Lay the groundwork to legally challenge results elsewhere.