In their new book “Peril,” Bob Woodward and Robert Costa give an insider look into the drama as Republicans struggled with an outraged, manic Trump after the election was called for Biden. Just like a reality TV show, there are temper tantrums, bitchy gossip, back-stabbing and plenty of swearing. And that’s just Trump.
Surprisingly, we read that members of Trump’s own party tried to convince him to concede. In fact, William Barr, who had nothing left to lose at that point, told Trump that there was no voting fraud.
“The problem is this stuff about the voting machines is just bullshit,” Barr said, according to the book, and proceeded to call Trump’s lawyers ‘a bunch of clowns.’
And who knew that on the night of the election, GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy
pleaded with Trump to accept defeat and call Biden, as is tradition.
“You’ve done good things and you want that to be your legacy. Call Joe Biden,” McCarthy said, according to the authors. Naturally, an embittered Trump never made the call, and instead turned on his long-time ally.
“This guy called me every single day, pretended to be my best friend, and then, he fucked me. He’s not a good guy,” Trump told friends at a February dinner about McCarthy. “Kevin came down to kiss my ass and wants my help to win the House back.”
Still, there are many Republicans that still think they need Trump to win back the Presidency.