President Trump appeared far more subdued than usual when he paid an Election Day thank-you call on his mostly young campaign staffers at his campaign headquarters in Arlington VA.
They wore masks. He didn’t.
Speaking for fewer than 15 minutes, Trump still maintained he will pull off a re-election victory, despite polling numbers that put him far behind Joe Biden in most key states.
But he also used some startling words (for him) in describing his situation: “losing” and “concession.”
“I’m not thinking about concession speech or acceptance speech yet,” Trump told reporters. “Hopefully we’ll be only doing one of those two,” he said. “Winning is easy. Losing is never easy. Not for me it’s not.”
He predicted that it will be clear who won by Tuesday night, but few election experts on either side agree.
“Chris Krebs, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, urged Americans earlier Tuesday to be patient while votes are counted even beyond Election Day,” The Hill reports.
Trump began his day as he often does, speaking with his TV allies on “Fox & Friends. He appeared to back away from suggestions that he’ll declare victory if early returns show him leading, even without anything close to a full count of the votes.
“I think we will have victory,’’ Trump said, “his voice hoarse from having speaking at 10 rallies in the final two days of the campaign,” reported the New York Times, suggesting that he’ll claim victory “only when there is victory. You know, there is no reason to play games.”
Later, after his visit with campaign workers, Trump withdrew to the White House, which is hosting an election party for about 200 family members, supporters and top Republicans.
“The Trump campaign’s election night ‘war room’ will not be in the White House, but next door in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building,” reports USA Today.
“War room” staffers will relay the latest developments to Trump, who will spend most of his time shuttling between the White House residence and the Oval Office.
Whether any of them — party guests, campaign staffers or Trump himself — will end the day happy with the outcome remains very much in doubt.
