Is Trump conceding?

Article written and website edited by Misaki Tomiyama

Ever since the announcement of the elections on November 3rd, President Trump has been filing lawsuits, stating that there has been a “massive fraud” in the electoral counting. However, recently, President Trump has made several remarks that imply that he has accepted Joe Biden’s US presidency transitions.

On Thanksgiving, a video call was held with president Trump, and he was asked various questions about the elections, in the White House. He spoke with the members of the US military, and was asked questions about what he will do, if the recounting of the ballots, and the results of the electoral college claims that Biden has won the presidency. He was also asked whether he will be leaving the White House if Joe Biden wins the electoral college votes. He responded- "Certainly I will, certainly I will and you know that,"

Despite all of these comments, President Trump also made several comments on what will happen if Joe Biden gets elected. "if they do, they made a mistake", he said.

When he was directly asked whether he will concede if the electoral college votes for Joe Biden on December 14 (when the members of the electoral college formally cast their votes), President Trump said, “It’s going to be a very hard thing to concede… because we know it was massive fraud. So as to whether or not I can get this apparatus moving this quickly… because time isn’t on our side, everything else is on our side, facts are on our side. This was a massive fraud. This should never take place in this country”

Contrary to his previous response to the question, he has mentioned that “it’s going to be a very hard thing to concede”, implying that he still hasn’t accepted defeat. He has also mentioned countlessly on how there were “massive electoral frauds”, however, there have been several disputes about this statement, and no clear evidence was there to prove his point.

If Joe Biden is selected after the electoral college vote casting on December 14th, Joe Biden will be sworn in, or given the formal position as President, on January 20th. Trump had not mentioned whether or not he will be running for President again in 2024, but he has mentioned that he will be attending the inauguration for Joe Biden.