Donald Trump has finally come clean about the 2020 presidential election - sort of - after admitting he didn't win.
It took Trump several months to concede defeat following his loss to Joe Biden, and even then, he's continued to push false claims that he was the true winner, alleging, without evidence, that he was the victim of widespread election fraud.
Now, it seems Trump has reached the fifth stage of grieving his failed re-election campaign: acceptance.
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During a panel interview with a group of presidential historians, Trump stated 'I didn’t win the election', giving his clearest indication yet that he's prepared to move on from his tactic of claiming he was the rightful winner.
The comments came as Trump spoke about his tough stance on foreign leaders, ranking a number of countries by who was 'happiest' to see him no longer in office.
"By not winning the election [South Korean president Moon Jae-in] was the happiest man – I would say, in order, China was – no, Iran was the happiest," he said, continuing "[Moon] was going to pay $5bn, $5bn a year. But when I didn’t win the election, he had to be the happiest – I would rate, probably, South Korea third- or fourth-happiest."
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Yet despite that message, Trump appeared to give mixed signals later in the conversation, repeating his claims that the voting was fraudulent and telling the panel 'the election was rigged and lost'.
By failing to accept defeat and repeatedly promoting false claims that the election was fraudulent, Trump is alleged to have provoked the violent scenes at the Capitol on January 6, which saw a number of pro-Trump supporters attempt to prevent the election results from being certified.
The attack led to Trump being impeached by the House of Representatives for a second time, making him the first President in history to be impeached twice, and he and his family continue to be under investigation by the January 6 congressional committee for their role in the events.
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His panel interview, which was given to a group of historians working on a book about his presidency, comes amid continued suggestions that he may run for president again in 2024, with political analysts suggesting that he would have a clear path to the Republican nomination were he to do so.
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Topics: Donald Trump, US News
Hannah Smith