Donald Trump has generated some attention of late with the language he's using in regard to the 2020 election. By the count of Colby Hall at Mediaite, the former president has stated three times over the last month that he lost a close race to President Biden.
- By a whisker, I: The most recent came this week in an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, per NBC News. "I was told if I got 63 million (votes), which is what I got the first time, 'You would win. You can't not win.' And I got millions more votes than that and lost by a whisker," Trump said.
- By a whisker, II: Trump used the same language at a Moms for Liberty event on August, in which he told supporters he had "lost by a whisker," per Mediaite.
- A bit short: During a speech at the border last month, Trump recalled his final days in office: "This was the last week in office for me because of a horrible, horrible election where I got many millions more votes than I got the first time, but didn't quite make it, just a little bit short."
The "lost by a whisker" line in particular has drawn attention, including from Peter Baker at the New York Times. And USA Today reports that right-wing figure Nick Fuentes unleashed an angry tirade at Trump over the line. "So, why did we do Stop the Steal?" he asked on his podcast. "Why did anyone go to Jan. 6? Why did anyone go to jail? ... It would have been good to know that before 1,600 people got charged," Fuentes said. "It would've been good to know that before (I) had all my money frozen, put on a no-fly list, banned from everything, lost all my bank and payment processing."
Does the new language mark a calculated rhetorical shift by Trump ahead of the November vote? Colby, for one, doesn't think so. Trump has on occasion spoken of losing the election, and he made clear in his interview with Fridman that he still believes Democrats were engaged in shadiness in the vote count. It "is newsworthy for sure, but is his message really that different?" asks Colby. "No, not really." (More Donald Trump 2024 stories.)
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