Old tricks? Trump advisors reportedly suggested he announce victory early
Reports say that Trump's advisers told him that if he leads Harris by a sufficient number of votes in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, he should declare victory on election night, but it is unclear whether Trump will heed this advice; Trump's aides acknowledge that if Trump decides to do so, there may be no one on his team who can dissuade him.Source: Cailian Press
Author: Xia Junxiong
According to media reports citing sources, advisors to former President and Republican presidential candidate Trump have told him that if he has a sufficient lead over Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Harris in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, he should declare victory on election night. However, it remains unclear whether Trump will heed this advice.
The 2024 U.S. presidential election began on Tuesday (November 5) local time. Based on past experience, the winner of the U.S. election is usually known late on election day or early the next morning, but given the unusually tight race this time, it may take longer to determine the results.
Trump's advisors believe that if he has a lead of hundreds of thousands of votes in Pennsylvania, or if his internal polling suggests he is likely to win even if the results are not fully in by Tuesday night, then claiming victory would not be a loss for Trump.
However, even Trump's most aggressive allies have advised him not to declare victory prematurely if the race remains close late on election night, to avoid appearing foolish.
Ultimately, whether Trump declares victory early depends on him. His aides acknowledge that if Trump decides to do so, there may be no one on his team who can dissuade him.
Given that Trump declared victory prematurely in the 2020 election, Harris's campaign team has previously stated that they have contingency plans in place to respond to Trump potentially using the same tactic again.
Sources reveal that Trump has not mentioned his plans for election night in detail this time, in stark contrast to the 2020 election when he had informed allies in advance that he would declare victory regardless of the outcome.
On Tuesday, Trump himself also avoided the question while voting, stating, "I don't know what will happen in terms of declaring victory. It looks like we have a big advantage, and the number of Republican votes is much higher than that of Democrats. So if you are leading and have a lot of votes, it means you are doing very well, but they have to declare a winner. They should declare a winner."
