It was all rigged, Donald Trump says — insisting that an election he lost fair and square was stolen in the largest conspiracy in human history, nevermind no evidence. But something was indeed rigged on Election Day and thereafter: The reaction of Trump himself. The then-president had a totally precooked plan to declare victory, just as he later had carefully contrived plans to train an angry mob on the Capitol. The "big lie" that Joe Biden stole the presidency was advanced with the help of another interwoven big lie: that Trump and others were reacting to events as they unfolded. Nothing happened spontaneously.
Americans have long known about Trump’s plans to say he won the election before all the votes were counted. But audio just uncovered by Mother Jones reveals just how nefarious the plot really was.
In an hourlong diatribe to associates on Oct. 31, 2020, Trump strategist and confidant Steve Bannon details how it was going to (and did) work: “What Trump’s gonna do is just declare victory. Right? He’s gonna declare victory. But that doesn’t mean he’s a winner,” Bannon said, while laughing. “He’s just gonna say he’s a winner.”
