Giuliani reportedly drunkenly pushed Trump to 'just say we won' on election night


Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reportedly "infuriated" former President Donald Trump's advisers by urging him to simply declare he won on election night 2020 "based on nothing."
An excerpt from the book I Alone Can Fix It published in The Washington Post Tuesday recounts election night 2020 inside the Trump campaign, describing how Giuliani started telling other guests at the White House's viewing party that he had "come up with a strategy for Trump and was trying to get into the president's private quarters to tell him about it." Some "thought Giuliani may have been drinking too much," according to the book.
Giuliani reportedly then presented this strategy to Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and senior adviser Jason Miller, urging them to prematurely declare victory in multiple states even though votes were still being counted and projections hadn't been made.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Giuliani's grand plan was to just say Trump won, state after state, based on nothing," the book says. "Stepien, Miller and Meadows thought his argument was both incoherent and irresponsible."
In fact, Meadows reportedly raised his voice as he told Giuliani, "We can't do that. We can't." Later, though, Giuliani reportedly directly pushed Trump to deliver a premature victory speech, telling him, "Just go declare victory right now." Trump advisers, the book says, were "infuriated," but Trump ultimately did deliver a speech in which he falsely claimed to have won the election.
"It's hard to be the responsible parent when there's a cool uncle around taking the kid to the movies and driving him around in a Corvette," a Trump adviser said. "When we say the president can't say that, being responsible is not the easiest place to be when you've got people telling the president what he wants to hear. It's hard to tell the president no. It's not an enviable place to be." Read more at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
August 2 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a tariff self-own, rough times at the Trump golf course, and more
-
5 inexcusably hilarious cartoons about Ghislaine Maxwell angling for a pardon
Cartoons Artists take on the circle of life, Ghislaine's Island, and more
-
Ozzy Osbourne obituary: heavy metal wildman and lovable reality TV dad
In the Spotlight For Osbourne, metal was 'not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide'
-
Trump revives K-12 Presidential Fitness Test
Speed Read The Obama administration phased the test out in 2012, replacing it with a program focused on overall health rather than standardized benchmarks
-
El Salvador scraps term limits, boosting Nayib Bukele
Speed Read New constitutional changes will allow presidents to seek reelection an indefinite number of times
-
Trump assigns tariffs, delays all except on Canada
Speed Read A 35% tariff on many Canadian goods has gone into effect
-
Harris rules out run for California governor
Speed Read The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee ended months of speculation about her plans for the contest
-
Trump sets new tariff rates as deadline nears
Speed Read New tariff rates for South Korea, Brazil and India announced
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardon
Talking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
Senate confirms Trump loyalist Bove to top court
Speed Read The president's former criminal defense lawyer was narrowly approved to earn a lifetime seat
-
Ghislaine Maxwell offers testimony for immunity
Speed Read The convicted sex trafficker offered to testify to Congress about her relationship with late boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein