Steve Schmidt on Trump Not Conceding Election: ‘This Is a Coup’

Lincoln Project founder Steve Schmidt on Thursday reacted to the “outrageous situation” that is President Donald Trump not conceding the 2020 presidential election results. The Trump campaign is currently engaged in legal battles in multiple states due to claims of voter fraud.

During “MSNBC Live,” Schmidt said Trump’s refusal to concede the “fair election” immediately “is a coup of sorts.”

“Donald Trump intends to keep his grip on the Republican Party, and Republicans are going to have to figure out how to deal with it,” Schmidt told host Stephanie Ruhle. “He’s going to continue to tweet. He’s going to continue to drive the information flow across the vast propaganda networks that have supported and surrounded him. He’ll be a tremendously pernicious force in this country for a long time to come.”

“I mean, Stephanie, it … definitely feels more like ‘Moon over Parador,’ the movie, than it does a real coup, but this is a coup of sorts,” he added. “We’ve never seen this in this country. This is a legitimate election, a fair election. Joe Biden has won the election. In every other year in the modern history of the country, the losing presidential candidate would have called would have conceded. Everyone would have acknowledged it, and on we go. That’s what we do in America. So … this is an outrageous situation.”

Ruhle then said it is not a coup, but rather “cuckoo.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent

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