Donald Trump Admits That People Told Him There Was No Election Fraud, and He Didn’t Listen
Trump said on "Meet the Press" that, while he was "listening to different people" who said the election was not rigged against him, he ultimately decided it had been
While Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed the 2020 election was rigged against him, the former president admitted in a Sunday interview that he was told those claims were false — years before he was indicted for allegedly attempting to overturn the election in his favor.
“It was my decision, but I listened to some people,” Trump, 77, said of making his false claims of election fraud, during a wide-ranging interview that aired Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press.
Trump said that, while he was "listening to different people" who said the election was not rigged against him, he ultimately decided it had been, and continued making the claims.
“When I added it all up, the election was rigged,” Trump told moderator Kristen Welker. He continued: “You know who I listen to? Myself. I saw what happened.”
Related: Donald Trump Addresses Wife Melania’s Absence from Campaign Trail: ‘I Like to Keep Her Away from It’
In total, Trump said more than a dozen times in the interview that the 2020 election was "rigged," per an NBC News tally.
Trump remains a highly influential figure in Republican politics, even as his post-White House prestige has been overshadowed by intensifying investigations on various fronts.
The former president has been indicted four times since leaving office, including twice on the federal level.
One of the federal indictments alleges that Trump was told by numerous individuals in his inner orbit that the election was not rigged, and that he had indeed lost both the popular and electoral votes. Prosecutors allege that Trump was informed that his claims were false by aides, attorneys, state and federal courts, and even his own vice president, Mike Pence, with whom he began to feud when Pence said he would not overturn the election results.
Per the indictment, Trump was charged with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The indictment alleges that Trump, after losing the 2020 presidential election, "was determined to remain in power."
"So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won," it reads.
A separate indictment filed in Georgia details Trump and his allies' failed efforts to overturn the results that gave now-President Biden the state's 16 electoral votes.
Trump is charged in that case with 13 felony counts: racketeering (violation of the Georgia RICO Act); three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; two counts conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree; two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit filing false documents; filing false documents; and two counts of false statements and writings.
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