Trump tells McConnell ‘too soon to give up,’ asks supporters if he should run in 2024
President Donald Trump on Wednesday told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell it’s “too soon to give up” on the election while continuing to mull a 2024 bid for president.
McConnell for the first time recognized President-elect Joe Biden as the country’s next leader and congratulated him Tuesday morning after the Electoral College cast its votes Monday and further affirmed Biden’s victory with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.
The president has refused to concede to Biden since The Associated Press and other news outlets projected Biden as the winner of the election on Nov. 7. Trump, and his allies have continued to tout baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in an unsuccessful effort to challenge the outcome of the election.
But more Republican lawmakers, including McConnell, have begun accepting the results of the election and recognized Biden as president-elect following the Electoral College vote.
“Six weeks ago, Americans voted in this year’s general election,” McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “The legal and constitutional processes have continued to play out since then. Yesterday electors met in all 50 states. So as of this morning, our country has officially and president-elect and a vice president-elect.”
Early Wednesday, Trump tweeted an article from The Daily Mail titled “Trump allies slam Mitch McConnell for congratulating Biden.”
“Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot),” he wrote along with the link. “Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!”
Trump received roughly 74.2 million votes to Biden’s roughly 81.2 million, according to The AP. Thanks to the highest turnout rate in a century, Biden set a record for the most votes received by a winning presidential candidate, and Trump set a record for the most received by a losing presidential candidate.
The president’s tweet came after his campaign reportedly sent an email to supporters asking them whether Trump should run again in 2024.
The email falsely claimed the “Radical Left STOLE this Election from” Trump, according to USA Today. There is no evidence the election was fraudulent, officials representing both parties from across the country have said.
The campaign message goes on to say Trump has “always been able to count on the American People for advice, which is why he asked us to reach out with ONE very important question,” CNN reports. The email then links to a “Yes” or “No” poll asking if Trump should run for president in 2024.
Trump is reportedly considering announcing his 2024 bid for president at a separate event during Biden’s inauguration ceremony, sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.
If he were to run again, it would likely stifle the rest of the potential field of Republican candidates.
A poll released last week found 60% of Americans don’t want Trump to run again in 2024 but that 67% of Republican surveyed do want him to run.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Trump tells McConnell ‘too soon to give up,’ asks supporters if he should run in 2024."
