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As The Electoral Walls Close In, Trump Is Now Absurdly Declaring Himself The Winner In States He Has Not Won

Election Night 2020 was a tense affair, if nowhere near as bleak-o-rama as the one in 2016, when reality star and fitfully successful businessman Donald J. Trump claimed a surprise presidential win. While far from a blow-out for either party, it found the incumbent commander-in-chief seeming to take more states than his many detractors would have liked. But then came the mail-in ballots, submitted in record numbers, largely by Democratic voters, who have taken the pandemic more seriously than their Republican brethren. By Wednesday, Trump’s grip was loosening, and hotly contested states like Michigan and Wisconsin were sliding into rival Joe Biden’s hands.

Did Trump take kindly to the counting of legally submitted votes? He did not. He filled his Twitter feed with fraudulent conspiracy theories, many of them flagged and censored by the social media service. He sicced lawyers on numerous Boards of Elections, attempting to stop people from counting ballots that likely weren’t for him. As the afternoon drew to a close, he got really desperate: he simply declared victory over states in which he hadn’t officially won.

“We have claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won’t allow legal observers),” he tweeted, “the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead. Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact,…..” The first tweet ended there, on a cliffhanger, whose resolution was hard to read because it was censored for spreading lies. (For the record, he claimed, without proof, that there was “a large number of secretly dumped ballots,” which had “been widely reported.” It hadn’t been.)

Perhaps you’re asking a president can simply claim victory in states he hasn’t won. The answer is no. (Moreover, the first tweet, while not hidden, was adorned with a warning, pointing out that “Official sources may not have called the race when it was Tweeted” — which isn’t true either, because official sources have called Michigan for Biden.) In fact the moment had strong Michael Scott “I declare bankruptcy!” energy — another doofus who’s questionably amassed power, proving how little he knows about how what he controls works.

At least his citizenry — who, if numbers hold, may not be his to lord over in a few months — were quick to point out his mistaken impression.

Some followed suit, claiming other places, however fictitious, over Twitter.

https://twitter.com/chrisweitz/status/1324120845573255168

Others claimed other ludicrous things.

Or made bold proclamations.

And some just mocked a man who may, at long last, be down.

And some reminded us about one of his first stops after relinquishing the presidency.