While speaking with Fox News hosts Harris Faulkner and Bill Hemmer about the passing of conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday, Trump answered questions about the late radio personality's take on the 2020 US presidential election, once again insisting that he had "won" on November 3.
"Rush thought we won," the former US president said before claiming that he had held victory in the election.
Donald Trump mourns the loss of his friend Rush Limbaugh pic.twitter.com/HrMZCtyVqe
— jordan (@JordanUhl) February 17, 2021
"Mr. President, we probably have a hundred questions for you, but so many of them are not appropriate for this venue, so we'll keep it on this topic for now and we appreciate your time today," Hemmer said at one point in the interview. Trump responded in agreement.
"Many people are furious, you don't know how angry this country is," Trump said later in the phone call, which was his first interview since the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol building.
The former US president's comments come months after the historic voter turnout of nearly 160 million Americans in the 2020 US presidential election. Biden received 81.2 million votes, while Trump secured 74.2 million in the national popular vote.
A survey conducted by Washington, DC, think tank Pew Research in 2020 found that nine-in-ten supporters of Trump and Biden believed the election of the other candidate would bring "lasting harm" to the country.
Furthermore, 83% of registered voters polled by the think tank last year claimed it "really matters" who wins the presidency in 2020, versus any other point in the last two decades.
Alongside the clear political divide in the US, there also exists a fracture within the Republican Party, with many pro-Trump members of the GOP clashing with other conservatives.
Trump notably took aim at former political ally McConnell, claiming in a Tuesday statement that the Senate minority leader's "dedication to business as usual, status quo policies, together with his lack of political insight, wisdom, skill, and personality," is the reason why Republicans lost the majority in the Senate.
The statement was viewed as a response to McConnell proclaiming on the Senate Floor that “there is no question” Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for inciting the deadly January 6 riot. However, he voted later that day to acquit the former US president on the single impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) attempted to come between the two Republican heavyweights, telling Fox News' Sean Hannity that he needs fellow members of the GOP to "realize that without President Trump, we're never going to get back in the majority."
Lindsey Graham: I know Trump can be a handful but he is the most dominant figure in the Republican Party. We don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of taking back the majority without Donald Trump... I’m sorry what happened on January 6th. He’ll get his fair share of blame... pic.twitter.com/yNAh5kVkav
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) February 17, 2021
"I know Trump can be a handful, but he is the most dominant figure in the Republican Party," he said to Hannity, reciting what he would tell McConnell following Trump's scathing statement. "We don't have a snowball's chance in hell of taking back the majority without Donald Trump."
