Donald Trump‘s now-former attorney Rudy Giuliani is to blame for what quickly became known as the “Big Lie,” which the now-former president has been spreading since losing the 2020 election.
In stunning excerpts from a new book by The Washington Post’s Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker, America learns that Giuliani had set up a separate “command center” inside the White House – on top of two the Trump Campaign had created for Election Day.
When Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden, earlier than any other network, Trump exploded and Giuliani advanced his plan.
“What the f— is Fox doing?” Trump screamed. Then he barked orders to Kushner: “Call Rupert! Call James and Lachlan!” And to Jason Miller: “Get Sammon. Get Hemmer. They’ve got to reverse this.” The president was referring to Fox owner Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, as well as Bill Sammon, a top news executive at Fox.
Trump’s tirade continued. “What the f—?” he bellowed. “What the f— are these guys doing? How could they call this this early?”
Giuliani tried to get Trump to go into the East Room of the White House and on national television deliver a victory speech.
“Just go declare victory right now,” Giuliani told Trump. “You’ve got to go declare victory now.”
In fact, the former New York City mayor and former U.S. Attorney had been pushing the “Big Lie” all night long.
When questions were asked earlier that evening about key battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, Giuliani told Trump’s top aides, “Just say we won.”
As the election turned toward Biden, Trump became “apoplectic.”
At one point Trump showed up in the Map Room, where the Trump Campaign had set up shop, and yelled at his deputy campaign manager.
“Why are they still counting votes?” Trump asked. “The election’s closed. Are they counting ballots that came in afterward? What the hell is going on?”
“They’re stealing this from us,” Trump told Kellyanne Conway. “We have this thing won. I won in a landslide and they’re taking it back.”