Despite President-elect Joe Biden's clear victory in the 2020 election, Team Trump is still on a mission to dispute the results. For months, Trump has threatened that he won’t easily concede should he lose the election — a promise he’s clearly sticking to with the launch of his election defense fund and his daily Twitter rants. But while Trump continues to flatter himself in believing he still has a chance to hold onto the Oval Office, his inner circle is allegedly starting to think otherwise.
According to CNN, after voting maskless in Florida on Tuesday, First Lady Melania Trump has reportedly spoken to her husband about conceding from the race. CNN also says that White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner encouraged Trump's concession, too, though a White House official later disputed the claim and stated that Kushner was actually encouraging the president to pursue legal justice instead. This would align Kushner with Don Jr. and Eric Trump, who have continued to rage-shame politicians across party lines to support their father, urging the public not to accept these election results as truth.
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But perhaps none of this is as real as the White House would like us to believe: Team Trump is a clear sinking ship, and while Don Jr. and Eric apparently are eager to go down with it, Melania and Kushner might be trying to figure out the best way to save themselves — including by acting as if they're valiantly trying to convince the president to do the right thing and concede.
While it's possible that some of those close to Trump are in the process of trying to convince him to accept his loss, it's more likely that those who have supported him during his disastrous COVID-19 response, the inhumane separation of immigrant children from their parents, and countless other horrible acts don't really care about what it is that Trump does, unless it endangers their own future.
But, if the Trump family is at odds, that would only be a reflection of the Republican party's greater response. On the one hand, Republican politicians like former President George W. Bush and Sen. Mitt Romney are congratulating Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory. Bush said in a statement that he “know[s] Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country” and Romney tweeted on Saturday that he and his wife “know both of them as people of good will and admirable character.” Romney also called for the U.S. to “get behind the new president and wish him the very best” during an appearance on State of the Union on Sunday.
On the other hand, politicians like Republican Party leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy outright said during a Fox News appearance on Thursday that Trump had won the election and called for “transparency,” “accuracy,” and "that the legal votes be protected.” Sen Ted Cruz also stood by Trump on Fox News on Sunday, saying: “I believe President Trump still has a path to victory. That path is to count every single legal vote that was cast, but also not to cast any votes that were fraudulently passed or illegally cast." Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham casually suggested that if Trump concedes, the Republican party will "never" elect another president.
With memes of Melania Trump speeding out of the White House running rampant on the timeline, it's important to remember that Melania — along with the rest of Team Trump — isn't a victim of circumstance, and doesn't need any sort of redemption. Even if she is trying to convince her husband to concede (which seems unlikely), it would perhaps be the first time where she has asked him to act according to even the bare minimum of decency. And if that is what she's doing? It's probably because she knows it's better for her in the end — she didn't really want to have to decorate the White House for Christmas for the next four years. Would you?
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