Fears Grow That Trump May Declare Himself The Winner Before All The Votes Are Counted

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:12 pm

There is a growing concern that Trump might declare himself the winner on Election Night before all of the votes are counted.

Jonathan Lemire said on MSNBC’s Deadline White House:

It’s all part of this larger package. It’s sowing doubt on the election result. It’s suggesting America should have a winner that night. Let’s take a minute and pause on that because we know so many states will be doing mail-in voting, it will take longer to count the results. The ballot cast on election day will be done quicker. The president is urging his voters to go to the polls that day while Democrats out of concern for health, are urging mail-in balloting. There’s a real scenario where on election night, Donald Trump, as the east coast or even the west coast goes do bed. We don’t have a result, Donald Trump will be winning there’s a chance the Democrats and Biden campaign are worried that he may declare victory before any other organization, including the Associated Press would do so.

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Therefore and try to delegitimatize any ballot that comes in after that suggesting these mail-in ballots are fraudulent. I think that is part of why there is such concern. We heard these think tanks try to game out scenarios as to what can happen after the election, and outside of a Biden landslide, there’s a belief that there could be the real potential for some violence in the streets afterward. We hope not. It goes to show the president and some of his closest political allies are stoking that talk. That’s something, not just Democrats but all of us should be concerned about.

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The exact scenario that Lemire laid out is why the Biden campaign is building the biggest election protection operation in US history.

Trump is going to try to delegitimize the election.

The best preventive to thwart Trump is a Biden landslide win, which is why a state like Florida looms so large. If Biden can flip a red state like Florida out of Trump’s column, the president will have little basis for a declaration of victory on election night.

Donald Trump will do anything to hold on to power, so vote early, and be prepared for anything on election night.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association