In his rare public appearances, the president did not answer questions from the press as to whether he agreed. In total, he avoided press questions for 21 days, which is an extremely long period for a president who is not shy. But he left Twitter and shared weird tweets on Tuesday morning with Randy Quaid and James Woods, one of Trump’s prominent amplifiers, on Twitter about election fraud. Hours later, he shocked his helpers when he decided to appear in the press conference with just a few minutes of notice to congratulate the country on the performance of the stock market, alongside Vice President Mike Pence.
Outside of Twitter, Trump hasn’t commented on the election these days, but a Republican close to the White House said the president had reached a turning point on Monday after seeing the response to his law team’s press conference last week.
People in the campaign and in Republican circles tried to distance themselves from the event laden with conspiracy theory, classifying it as a “circus” and a “national disorder”. The president was advised by advisers that he should not let go, but should keep in mind his own legacy and begin the transition.
“The president has to come to terms with what has happened and have a tantrum,” a Republican senior official said. “It took a little longer than people first thought.”
Even Trump’s favorite conservative media owners come to the same conclusion.
Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson called Sidney Powell, who was expelled from Trump’s legal team on Sunday for refusing to provide evidence to support his widespread allegations of election fraud. Rush Limbaugh, a Conservative radio titan, blamed the campaign for pinching “success films” related to election fraud, but did not support them. “That’s not good,” Limbaugh said, urging the president to hold rallies to support Republicans in the Georgian Senate’s running races.
“If the legal situation doesn’t change dramatically and unlikely, Joe Biden will be inaugurated on Jan. 20,” said Laura Ingraham, host of Fox News.
A senior campaign adviser argued that the president’s legal team is now only publicly trying to lay the groundwork for “fairer” elections in 2022 and 2024.
“They’re trying to figure out how the campaign can set this up for the post-2020 future,” the consultant said. “We want to focus on the future so we can swing to the ground.”
One of the president’s legs is also publicly in the fight, and the other leg is outside the door himself. Behind the scenes, Trump reflected on his future after the White House, which included everything from building Trump’s political faculty to investing in a media company to potentially participating in the next presidential election.
Some other members of the Trump family have been nostalgic for the past four years. The president’s daughter and advisor, Ivanka Trump, posted old photos on Instagram of her family, including her husband, Jared Kushner, visits to various venues in Washington DC, and festive events.
“This season always evokes wonderful memories in the White House,” he wrote.
The couple is expected to leave Washington next year.
Gabby Orr and Nancy Cook contributed to the report.
