Does Trump know that he lost the election?

One view is that Trump knows perfectly well that he lost the election; he was telegraphing already that he wouldn't concede since before the election, claiming fraud in advance, and the reasons he won't concede are multiple - to use his effort to fight off the election to fundraise and pay off election debts, to undermine Biden so that it is easy either for him or for a surrogate like Ivanka Trump to run in 2024, to save face, to energize the voters so that the Georgia runoffs don't deliver the Senate to the Dems, to hope for some miracle so that he remains in power and avoids prosecution, or something else.

Another view is that Trump is so pathologically narcissistic that he simple can't believe that he lost; he really genuinely feel that he won, and can't accept that he would lose without it being fraudulent.

A third option is "a little bit of both" which may appear contradictory and impossible but some people have a sort of cognitive dissonance that will allow two versions of perception of reality or lack thereof to somehow coexist.

A fourth option would be to declare that it is impossible to know or guess, so, it's a "I don't know" option.

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Please, I beg you, don't use this thread to litigate the election and argue that he didn't lose, that there was widespread fraud, etc. There are other threads for that. This one is not for that. Feel free to create still another thread arguing that he won if you will, but don't try to hijack and derail this one, please. What I'm inviting people to pick a choice about, is, supposing that he did lose the election (even if for you, you'd only acknowledge that for the sake of the argument), does he know that he did, or not?

Does he think "yeah, sure, Biden did win, he got enough votes to a degree that no recount or court challenge will change it and I know that if there were irregularities, they weren't as numerous as to change the ultimate outcome, but I'll pretend that he didn't win, for my political goals [listed above]"? Or does he actually think "no way, I can't have lost unless they cheated"?

Thanks in advance for voting in this poll.

 

He knows he's lost.

1. He thinks he can leverage a 'concession' later on for something, so there is no reason to hand over the victory without getting something in return. Its the businessman in him. He's always looking to salvage something out of a losing situation.

2. He is also raising a lot of money from the schmucks in his base. This is a fundraising gimmick to keep the money flowing that will pay off his campaign debt and potentially fill the coffers of the RNC and his allies who ran down-ballot on the ticket.

The problem for businesses with increased spending around Christmas, is that Christmas morning eventually shows up. But what if they can find a way to stall Christmas morning by a few more weeks until -say, Jan 6th? Trump isn't stupid. He wants to keep the fires of partisanship burning another month until the end of November so he can get his hands on some more idiot money and pay down that campaign debt.

 

That's pretty much what I think, too, which is why I voted for the first option.

 

I think he knows he lost. But unlike you guys, I don’t think there’s any intelligent/mature reason behind his refusal to concede. The man has the mind of a child. He won’t concede because he’s butthurt. That’s all there is to it.

 

I was in the 1. category, but since he's started firing people and replacing officials I think it's prudent to be prepared for anything with this Maniac in Chief. I voted 4.

 

I went for #3 but would have picked 3 and 4 if allowed, which is also contradictory, which basically describes everything about Trump.

 

If he is in that deep a degree of denial it would suggest that he is mentally unfit at present and represents a danger to the nation

 

Did you see his face at the memorial?


That is one sulky child!

 

Nailed it.

 

One thing we know for sure that Trump is always in it for himself. If he actually cared for the good of the country, he'd already had conceded. The reason why he has not conceded is going to become clear after we see what he gets out of the non-concession.

It could be that he wants to run again in 2024, so he is setting the narrative for four years of rallies.
Maybe he just wants to milk his supporters a little more for donations, before he slinks into oblivion.
Or, he is getting the RW all riled up to generate a good audience for his new TV channel.

I doubt, however, that he gives a fu%k about the down ballot races in Georgia and the RNC. Those have been useful tools for him while in office. Now, he'll throw them off the wagon, unless he wants to convert the party fully to the Trump party.

 

I choose #3 because I think that, for all his madness, he might still have a few brief moments of lucidity during which his evil lust for treachery controls him.
But I find all comments I read so far on this thread very relevant indeed.

 

Every single one of his supporters iv heard from claim that they would act the same way in his situation. Its a spoilsport mentality that plagues America, and a large portion of it to none the less.
Trumps always been this way, so getting mad at him is like getting mad at a lemming for walking off a cliff. Let all his followers proudly walk off the same cliff, cause allowing the crap he is doing bars them from any notion of being able to claim patriotism. They (his supporters) have been lying this whole time to push some sort of agenda, and its been so obvious, even a child can feel ashamed to watch what is happening and pretend like its ok.

 

I know a good number of posters here have suggested, understandably so, that Trump may face legal/financial troubles once he is out of office. It’s no secret that holding the presidency protects one from many possible legal actions. I’m thinking he knows this to be more of an inevitability than just a possibility.

Anyone who has been watching Trump these past four years knows that he does not like the job. His actions are scrutinized to a level he never would have experienced in his more private life. He can’t do the things he wants to do when he wants to do them. A second term wouldn’t offer any of the things he enjoyed about the role. No more campaigning to look forward. He’d just be going back to a job he hates.

The only reason I can see for him to want a second term at this point is that he knows what is coming once he is no longer the president.

 

Trump is back on campaign trail, and the donations for “election fraud” seem to be channeled to his super pac. I think he is very well aware that he lost, but he wants to raise funds to help Republicans pay for future campaigns.
If you look past the surface of his behavior, you’d see that he is actually very rational. He knows that he lost, but he might want to assist Republicans with winning GA, and if his super pac ends up spending most of that money on that race then Trump’s actions are not irrational, and, in fact, are perfectly logical.

 

You should drop any hopes of prosecuting Trump for anything.
Democrats know, if they prosecute a former president, their current president will face the same fire after their term is over. Trump clearly demonstrated that Biden himself is far from being a squeaky clean politician. They know if they prosecute Trump, next Trump might prosecute Biden, and so on. That’s why Trump never materialized slogan “lock her up” against Hillary.

 

Does Trump know that he lost the election?

He don’t care if he lost – he knows he has the power to convince his base that he won, the same way he convinced his base that Mexico will pay for the wall, that the coronavirus is a Democrats hoax which will disappear in April, that the tax cut he gave for himself and for his wealthy friends was not good for him, that CIA/FBI is a ‘deep state’ who lies and KGB officer tells the truth and much more.


True stable genius with the best trained stable.

 

I don’t have any hopes that Trump will be prosecuted for any political crimes he may have committed. Nor would I really advocate for that. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have other legal or financial troubles that the presidency is protecting him from.

 

Tell me, when did Trump ever support anyone who is not a Trump loyalist (i.e. someone who is in it for Trump)? He has tried to destroy even GOP senators, knowing full well that the party needs them for control of the Senate, if they spoke out against Trump. Therefore, I do not believe ONE second that he is trying to help the GOP down ballot, unless there is something in it for Trump. Is there? We don't know yet.

 

Actually, Trump started a new PAC, "Save America" a leadership pac which allows funds to be spent on personal expenses. 60% of money being contributed to his defense fund is going into that pac.

 

Your mantra that Trump is evil to the core is caused by all of the propaganda you’ve swallowed in the last 4 years. Everyone thinks they are a good person, it’s a universal fact. Trump thinks he is a good guy, Hillary thinks she is a good woman, and Biden thinks he is a good guy too.
You guys are often the irrational ones - you think an old man in mid-70s who’s seen life is in denial about his loss and are so excited about this improbable explanation that you aren’t willing to look past your own made-up conclusions and look into the facts - Trump’s fundraiser for “election fraud” sends funds to GOP and his super pac. That’s a screaming confirmation that Trump himself gave up on the fight for his seat. His actions are directed at helping the rest of the GOP. You claim that Trump is selfish, yet his actions that we are discussing here actually prove the opposite - he doesn’t channel the funds to defend his own office, the funds go to helping other GOP candidates win.

 

All non-profits, political or not, have abuse problems. This is not the first PAC in history, and it’s not he last. Judging from the messaging I’ve seen, the funds will help GOP in the races for senate in GA.
I live in Chicago area, the place ran by democrats for a long time, and claims that Trump is so corrupt that he will spend all that money on himself ignores the reality that democrats themselves love to spend some of that money on themselves. No need to go far, read Chicago Tribune for a week or two to see another one of those examples.

If you are concerned with how a PAC (left or right) spends the money then you should push for a bipartisan solution that addresses these concerns. Otherwise you are just looking like a hypocrite.
Also, if you don’t like the lack of accountability of these PACs then you simply don’t donate to one. I, for one, never do.

 

Wait! Everytime he opened his mouth it was propaganda? Apparently so because my negative opinion of him is based entirely on his speech and actions.

 

Wait! Everytime he opened his mouth it was propaganda? Apparently so because my negative opinion of him is based entirely on his speech and actions.

 

I heard Trump is firing Pentagon officials, and replacing them with loyalists, I heard that he is now considering locking down America due to the virus which grant him more powers.
I heard that his supporters think its ok to start a super PAC under the guise of "save America" to fund his agenda. Is any of that inaccurate, and do you think this is acceptable?

 

I can only give an opinion based on what I have seen on TV or read in the news. We have watched Trump for 4 years in the White House. From that I offer an opinion based on what I would do and what I have observed. Trump is understandably hurt to his core. He also wants to be clear in is mind that he lost fair and square. Once the Supreme Court rules then Trump will do what every president before him has done for the good of the country. When Trump greets Biden at the White House we will see Trump at his best.