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Like the election, Trump has a sad history of prematurely claiming victory only to have it backfire
Trump prematurely claimed victory in the 2020 presidential election only to lose it days later. It’s a pattern of behavior America has seen before.
By Ryan Pickrell
President Donald Trump claimed victory over his Democratic opponent Joe Biden as votes were still coming in only to lose the presidential election. It was the latest in a string of premature celebrations that have been a hallmark of Trump’s presidency.
Early Wednesday, Trump appeared to have an edge over Biden, but votes were still being counted in many important battleground states. Trump argued in a briefing at the time that he won the election, despite neither candidate having secured enough electoral college votes to win.
He again claimed victory in a follow-on address Thursday evening, as the edge eroded, arguing without evidence that the election was being stolen from him by the incorporation of so-called “illegal votes” into official state tallies. On Friday, Biden defeated Trump to become president-elect.
During his presidency, Trump has repeatedly claimed victory before it was actually in his grasp. America has seen him do this with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Islamic State, and the North Korean nuclear…
