Trump's election loss coping mechanism is straight out of The Simpsons


President Trump is reportedly getting close to admitting he lost the 2020 election. Just don't call it a loss.
Trump thoroughly lost his re-election bid to President-elect Joe Biden, something the end of Trump's legal challenges and the Electoral College affirmed on Monday. And while Trump is getting close to at least tacitly admitting he's out of the White House, he'd rather frame it as a non-win, one source who talked to him recently told Axios. "If we don't win, I don't say 'lose.' I say 'I don't win,'" Trump reportedly put it to the source recently — a line that sounds like it could be right from The Simpsons.
Despite his reframing, Trump is reportedly even so down about his loss that he's "reluctant to talk much about a 2024 run," Axios reports. Trump has repeatedly hinted at staging a comeback bid in the next election, though it's reportedly just a cry for attention as Trump stares down future irrelevance. As the source who spoke to Trump recently put it to Axios, "it's an acknowledgement of the end" of Trump's 2020 antics.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Cracks appear in MAGA's pro-Israel front
IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the world watches a humanitarian crisis unfold across Gaza, some of Israel's most staunchly conservative defenders have begun speaking out against its actions in the occupied territories
-
5 cultural trails to traverse by car
The Week Recommends Leave the hiking shoes at home
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Thailand, Cambodia agree to ceasefire in border fight
Speed Read At least 38 people were killed and more than 300,000 displaced in the recent violence
-
Israel 'pauses' Gaza military activity as aid outcry grows
Speed Read The World Health Organization said malnutrition has reached 'alarming levels' in Gaza
-
US and EU reach trade deal
Speed Read Trump's meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen resulted in a tariff agreement that will avert a transatlantic trade war
-
At least 12 dead in Thai-Cambodian clashes
Speed Read Both countries accused the other of firing first
-
US and Japan strike trade deal
Speed Read Trump signed what he's calling the 'largest deal ever made'
-
28 nations condemn Israel's 'inhumane killing' in Gaza
Speed Read Countries including Australia, France, Japan and the U.K. have released a joint statement condemning Israel's ongoing attacks
-
Israeli gunfire kills dozens at Gaza aid site
Speed Read The U.N. estimates that at least 875 Palestinians have died while trying to access food in recent months