There are many alarming — and even bone-chilling — aspects of Trump Jr.’s November 5, 2020, text message.
But the most jaw-dropping is that the text was sent just two days after the 2020 election, when the result was still too close to call. That Trump Jr. was already pushing for several strategies — from pressing Republican state legislators to put forward slates of fake “Trump electors,” to firing the FBI Director and replacing him with a loyalist who would do Trump’s bidding — reveals the level of preparation and dogged determination within Trump’s inner circle to keep him in power, no matter the outcome.
How was Trump supposed to start a second term when the election hadn’t been called — and he was still trailing Joe Biden by 40 electoral votes?! The complete lack of regard for the will of American voters is in plain view in these texts.
Let’s be clear: There was never a credible argument behind the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. It was all a lie to keep Trump in power.
Reading some of the contents of Trump Jr.’s text is literally jaw-dropping. He called for firing the FBI Director Christopher Wray and making Trump loyalist Richard Grenell, former acting Director of National Intelligence, interim head of the FBI.
The text called for politically weaponizing the Department of Justice by calling on Attorney General Bill Barr to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the “Biden crime family.” This is not something that should ever happen in our nation — then again, the same can be said of the January 6, 2021, attack on our Capitol and Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The text also made reference to filing lawsuits and advocating recounts in swing states to prevent the certification of the results — a strategy the President and his allies used in the ensuing months after the election.
In a statement to CNN, Trump Jr.’s lawyer Alan S. Futerfas said, “After the election, Don received numerous messages from supporters and others. Given the date, this message likely originated from someone else and was forwarded.” Even if true, here was the son of the President sending the President’s chief of staff ways to upend the election results and abuse the power of the presidency in Trump’s remaining months in the White House.
Thanks to the newly revealed text message, we now know the seeds for a coup were planted even before the election results were announced. Would Trump have continued harping on about election fraud had he been declared the winner of the 2020 election? Of course not. It was never about election fraud — or any facts for that matter. Their goal was straightforward: Reinstall Donald…
Read More: Opinion: Why Trump Jr. started pushing for a coup before Biden won the 2020 election