“Frankly, We Did Win This Election”: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost

by Michael C. Bender

  Derek Hawkins, Marisa Iati, Hannah Knowles, Simon Denyer, Meryl Kornfield, Timothy Bella, and Jesse Dougherty. “Confirmed U.S. Covid-19 Death Toll Reaches 20,000, Highest in the World.” Washington Post, 11 April 2020.

  Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey, Annie Linskey, and Toluse Olorunnipa. “Trump Campaign Concludes There Is More to Be Gained by Attacking Biden than Trying to Promote President’s Pandemic Response.” Washington Post, 18 April 2020.

  Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey. “Trump Campaign Divided over How to Attack Biden amid Worries over Troubling Poll Numbers.” Washington Post, 2 May 2020.

  Maggie Haberman. “Trump, Head of Government, Leans into Antigovernment Message.” New York Times, 20 April 2020.

  Kate O’Keeffe, Michael C. Bender, and Chun Han Wong. “Coronavirus Casts Deep Chill over U.S.-China Relations.” Wall Street Journal, 6 May 2020.

  Shane Goldmacher. “Biden Faces a Cash Gap with Trump. He Has to Close It Virtually.” New York Times, 31 March 2020.

  Michael C. Bender and Ken Thomas. “Trump Makes Push for Seniors as Coronavirus Crisis Erodes Support.” Wall Street Journal, 1 May 2020.

  Michael C. Bender. “GOP Leader Pushes Party to Pursue Suburban Women Like Her.” Wall Street Journal, 31 October 2020.

  Chapter 8. Law and Order

  Todd Richmond. “Victim in Police Encounter Had Started New Life in Minnesota.” Associated Press, 27 May 2020.

  Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Jack Healy. “Cup Foods, a Minneapolis Corner Store Forever Tied to the Death of George Floyd.” New York Times, 15 June 2020.

  “Transcript of 911 Call Leading to Floyd’s Arrest.” Famous Trials.

  Richard Feloni and Yusuf George. “These Are the Corporate Responses to the George Floyd Protests That Stand Out.” Just Capital, 30 June 2020.

  Kim Parker, Juliana Menasce Horowitz, and Monica Anderson. “Amid Protests, Majorities across Racial and Ethnic Groups Express Support for the Black Lives Matter Movement.” Pew Research Center, 12 June 2020.

  Stephen Losey. “Chief Wright: ‘I Am George Floyd,’ Promises Review of Air Force Justice System.” Air Force Times, 1 June 2020.

  Danyelle Solomon, Connor Maxwell, and Abril Castro. “Systematic Inequality and Economic Opportunity.” Center for American Progress, 7 August 2019.

  Elise Gould and Valerie Wilson. “Black Workers Face Two of the Most Lethal Preexisting Conditions for Coronavirus—Racism and Economic Inequality.” Economic Policy Institute, 1 June 2020.

  “Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Patients Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019—COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1–30, 2020.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 April 2020.

  Samantha Artiga, Kendal Orgera, and Anthony Damico. “Changes in Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity since the ACA, 2010–2018.” Kaiser Family Foundation, 5 March 2020.

  Brita Belli. “Racial Disparity in Police Shootings Unchanged over 5 years.” Yale News, 27 October 2020.

  John Creamer. “Inequalities Persist Despite Decline in Poverty for All Major Race and Hispanic Origin Groups.” U.S. Census Bureau, 15 September 2020.

  “Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death by Race/Ethnicity.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 April 2021.

  “Trump Supporter Who Punched Protester: ‘Next Time, We Might Have to Kill Him.’” Inside Edition, 9 March 2016.

  Jeremy Diamond. “First on CNN: Charges Dropped against CBS Reporter, Chicago Police Say.” CNN, 17 March 2016.

  “On This Day—Jan 14, 1963: Newly Elected Governor George Wallace Calls for ‘Segregation Forever!’” Equal Justice Initiative.

  Glenn Kessler. “Donald Trump and David Duke: For the Record.” Washington Post, 1 March 2016.

  @MittRomney (Mitt Romney). “A disqualifying & disgusting response by @realDonaldTrump to the KKK, His coddling of repugnant bigotry is not in the character of America.” Twitter, 29 February 2016, 1:22 p.m.

  “Open Letter on Donald Trump from GOP National Security Leaders.” War on the Rocks, 2 March 2016.

  “Full Text: Donald Trump 2016 RNC Draft Speech Transcript.” Politico, 21 July 2016.

  Gabriel Sherman. “The Legacy.” New York Magazine, 10 July 2009.

  Ronald Smothers. “Democratic Donor Receives Two-Year Prison Sentence.” New York Times, 5 March 2005.

  Robert Hanley. “Donor Apologized to Sister for Seduction of Husband.” New York Times, 13 January 2005.

  “Livingston, NJ—Bridgewater Inn, NJ.” Google Maps.

  “Trump National Golf Club Bedminster—Red Bull Motor Inn.” Mapquest.

  “Political Contributor, Developer Charles Kushner Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud, Witness Retaliation, and Making False Statements to the Federal Election Commission” [press release]. U.S. Department of Justice, 18 August 2004.

  Ronald Smothers. “Democratic Donor Receives Two-Year Prison Sentence.” New York Times, 5 March 2005.

  Mary Clare Jalonick. “White House Adviser Kushner, Senator Talk Criminal Justice.” Associated Press, 30 March 2017.

  “Attorney General Jeff Sessions Delivers Remarks on Efforts to Combat Violent Crime in St. Louis.” U.S. Department of Justice, 31 March 2017.

  Jim Salter. “Sessions: Ferguson Emblem of Tense Relationship with Police.” Associated Press, 31 March 2017.

  Beth Reinhard. “Attorney General Sessions Revives Policy of Tougher Sentences for Drug Offenders.” Wall Street Journal, 12 May 2017.

  Daniel W. Drezner. “The Beclowning of the Executive Branch.” Washington Post, 31 March 2017.

  “Jared Kushner.” Fortune.

  Ben Kesling, Jennifer Levitz, and Scott Calvert. “Charlottesville Victim’s Mother Is ‘Proud of How She Died.’” Wall Street Journal, 13 August 2017.

  United States of America vs. James Alex Fields Jr. U.S. District Court, Charlottesville, VA, 27 June 2018.

  @Merck (Merck). “Statement from Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck…” Twitter, 14 August 2017, 8:00 a.m.

  @realdonaldtrump (Donald J. Trump). “Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” Twitter, 14 August 2017, 8:54 a.m. Trump Twitter Archive.

  Dan Merica. “Trump Pushes Death Penalty for Some Drug Dealers.” CNN, 19 March 2018.

  “White House Summit on Criminal Justice Policy.” C-SPAN, 19 May 2018.

  CNBC. “President Donald Trump Delivers Remarks at Prison Reform Summit—May 18, 2018 | CNBC.” YouTube, 18 May 2018.

  Linda A. Moore. “Kim Kardashian at the White House: 5 Things to Know about Alice Marie Johnson.” Commercial Appeal, 31 May 2018.

  Rebecca Ballhaus and Louise Radnofsky. “Trump Grants Commutation to Woman after Kim Kardashian West’s Appeal.” Wall Street Journal, 6 June 2018.

  Michael C. Bender and Rebecca Ballhaus. “Kelly’s Rules for Trump’s West Wing: Stop Bickering, Get in Early, Make an Appointment.” Wall Street Journal, 4 August 2017.

  Samantha J. Gross. “At ‘Latinos for Trump’ Kickoff in Miami, Pence Takes Aim at Democrat ‘Socialism.’” Miami Herald, 25 June 2019.

  Natalie Andrews. “House Passes Criminal-Justice Reform Bill.” Wall Street Journal, 20 December 2018.

  Kara Gotsch. “One Year after the First Step Act: Mixed Outcomes.” Sentencing Project, 17 December 2019.

  “Secretary DeVos Issues Full Forgiveness of HBCU Hurricane Relief Loans” [press release]. U.S. Department of Education, 14 March 2018.

  Collin Binkley. “Trump Signs Bill Restoring Funding for Black Colleges.” Associated Press, 19 December 2019.

  “America First Policies 2018 990.” Center for Public Integrity.

  Chandelis Duster and Maegan Vazquez. “A Pro-Trump Group Helped Fund the Nonprofit Holding Cash Giveaways to Black Attendees.” CNN, 14 February 2020.

  Seth A. Richardson. “Trump Allies Indefinitely Postpone Planned $50,000 Cash Giveaway in Cleveland.” Cleveland.com,
29 February 2020.

  Bonnie V. Winston and Ronald E. Carrington. “Virginia Union University Rescinds Permission for Outside Group to Use Campus Facility for Trump event.” Richmond Free Press, 17 January 2020.

  Andrew J. Tobias. “IRS Revokes Tax-Exempt Status for Trump Allies’ Charity That Organized Cleveland Cash Giveaway.” Cleveland.com, 29 August 2020.

  Darnella Frazier. Facebook, 26 May 2020.

  Paul Walsh. “Teen Who Recorded George Floyd Video Wasn’t Looking to Be a Hero, Her Lawyer Says.” Star Tribune, 11 June 2020.

  Scott Calvert and Valerie Bauerlein. “Viral Videos Shape Views of Police Conduct.” Wall Street Journal, 30 December 2015.

  Jeff Wagner. “‘It’s Real Ugly’: Protesters Clash with Minneapolis Police after George Floyd’s Death.” WCCO, 26 May 2020.

  Ben Zimmer. “‘Looting’: A Term with Roots in Protest and Conflict.” Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2020.

  Newley Purnell and Andrew Restuccia. “Twitter Flags Trump Tweet about George Floyd Protests for ‘Glorifying Violence.’” Wall Street Journal, 29 May 2020.

  “Timeline: How the First Week of George Floyd Protests Unfolded in Richmond.” Richmond Times-Dispatch, 7 June 2020.

  Leah Sottile. “The Chaos Agents.” New York Times Magazine, 19 August 2020.

  Andrew Blankstein and Ben Collins. “Alleged ‘Boogaloo’ Extremist Charged in Killing of Federal Officer during George Floyd Protest.” NBC, 17 June 2020.

  United States of America v. Steven Carrillo. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 15 June 2020.

  United States of America v. Robert Alvin Justus, Jr. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 12 June 2020.

  “Lafayette Square, Washington, DC.” U.S. General Services Administration.

  “Andrew Jackson Statue, Lafayette Square.” White House Historical Association.

  Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller. “Trump Took Shelter in White House Bunker as Protests Raged.” Associated Press, 31 May 2020.

  “Updates: Protests against Police Brutality and Social Injustice Continue Tuesday.” WUSA, 30 May 2020.

  Carol D. Leonnig. “Protesters’ Breach of Temporary Fences near White House Complex Prompted Secret Service to Move Trump to Secure Bunker.” Washington Post, 3 June 2020.

  Nate Carlisle. “Man Who Drew Bow and Arrow on Salt Lake City Protesters Is in Jail, Charged with Three Felonies.” Salt Lake Tribune, 4 June 2020.

  Reuters. “U.S. Protests: Man Points Bow and Arrow at Crowd *graphic video*” YouTube, 31 May 2020.

  Evan Bush. “Timeline of Demonstrations over the Police Killing of George Floyd.” Seattle Times, 6 June 2020.

  Rio Lancanlale. “Las Vegas Woman Becomes 60th Victim of October 2017 Mass Shooting.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 17 September 2020.

  “From Unrest to Joy, DC’s Week of George Floyd Protests Made Space for a Spectrum of Emotions.” WUSA, 6 June 2020.

  Peter Hermann, Sarah Pulliam Bailey, and Michelle Boorstein. “Fire Set at Historic St. John’s Church during Protests of George Floyd’s Death.” Washington Post, 1 June 2020.

  “St. John’s Church.” National Park Service.

  “History.” St. John’s Church.

  William Seale. “Foreword: White House History.” White House Historical Association.

  Chapter 9. Anarchy and Chaos

  “CNN Newsroom.” CNN, 1 June 2020.

  “Tanker Truck Drives into Minneapolis George Floyd Protesters on I-35W Bridge; Driver in Custody.” WCCO, 31 May 2020.

  David Schaper. “10 Years after Bridge Collapse, America Is Still Crumbling.” NPR, 1 August 2017.

  Amber Athey and Vince Coglianese. “Trump Plans to Invoke Insurrection Act to Boot Illegal Immigrants.” Daily Caller, 16 May 2019.

  Vivian Salama. “Exit of Mattis, Last of Trump’s ‘Generals,’ Removes Voice of Moderation.” Wall Street Journal, 20 December 2018.

  “Donald Trump Phone Call Transcript with Governors after Protests: ‘You Have to Dominate’ & ‘Most of You Are Weak.’” Rev, 1 June 2020.

  B. Philip Bigler. “Lincoln Memorial.” Encyclopedia Britannica.

  “Donald Trump Coronavirus Press Conference Transcript May 22: Says Places of Worship Must Open Immediately.” Rev, 22 May 2020.

  Carol D. Leonnig, Matt Zapotosky, Josh Dawsey, and Rebecca Tan. “Barr Personally Ordered Removal of Protesters near White House, Leading to Use of Force against Largely Peaceful Crowd.” Washington Post, 2 June 2020.

  Paul D. Shinkman. “D.C. Guard Officer ‘Deeply Disturbed’ by Police Crackdown at Lafayette Square.” U.S. News & World Report, 27 July 2020.

  “Written Statement of Adam DeMarco.” U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources, 28 July 2020.

  Dalton Bennett, Sarah Cahlan, Aaron C. Davis, and Joyce Sohyun Lee. “The Crackdown before Trump’s Photo Op.” Washington Post, 8 June 2020.

  Bloomberg Quicktake: Now. “Trump Says He’ll Deploy Military Unless States Halt Violent Protests in Rose Garden Speech.” YouTube, 1 June 2020.

  Bruce White. “Detail of North Door Carvings.” White House Historical Association, 24 February 2017.

  Commercial Break. “CNN—Trump Walks to St. John’s for Photo Op (June 1, 2020).” YouTube, 1 June 2020.

  Tommy Christopher. “Watch: Bible Literacy Champion Trump Hilariously Refused to Name His Favorite Verse.” Mediaite, 31 January 2019.

  Eric Bradner. “Trump Blames Tony Perkins for ‘2 Corinthians.’” CNN, 21 January 2016.

  CNN. “Donald Trump: I Brought My Bible.” YouTube, 26 September 2015.

  @JenniferJJacobs (Jennifer Jacobs). “‘Pretty great.’ Trump told me after visit to St John’s church, which suffered a fire last night amid George Floyd protest, He didn’t answer our questions on: clear park just for photo op, is this still a democracy, is systemic racism root of problem, will military further inflame.” Twitter, 1 June 2020, 7:23 p.m.

  @JasonMillerinDC (Jason Miller). “Now we’re rolling—this is how we do crowd dispersement, folks. No church fires tonight. The A-Team has been brought in to keep our streets safe. Failed Mayors like Bowser and Frey should have been set up to do this Friday night!” Twitter, 1 June 2020, 6:38 p.m.

  @marklevinshow (Mark R. Levin). “The president’s walk through Lafayette Park, controlled the night before by rioters, to the burned out St. John’s Church, holding his bible in his hand, was truly historic, A fabulous moment of enormous important.” Twitter, 1 June 2020, 7:37 p.m.

  @hughhewitt (Hugh Hewitt). “Very admirable of @POTUS to demonstrate that the rule of law will not be intimidated by lawlessness.” Twitter, 1 June 2020, 7:09 p.m.

  Michael C. Bender and Sadie Gurman. “Forceful Removal of Protesters from Outside White House Spurs Debate.” Wall Street Journal, 2 June 2020.

  Beth Reinhard and Reid J. Epstein. “A Pastor with a Passion for Trump.” Wall Street Journal, 7 April 2016.

  “Grassley Releases Review of Tax Issues Raised by Media-Based Ministries” [press release]. U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, 6 January 2011.

  Gordon Lubold. “Trump Wanted to Fire Esper over Troops Dispute.” Wall Street Journal, 9 June 2020.

  “President Trump on the Brian Kilmeade Show.” Fox News Radio, 3 June 2020.

  Corey Dickstein. “Pentagon Leaders Planned to Send Home Active-Duty Troops in DC Area before Reversing Decision.” Stars and Stripes, 3 June 2020.

  Eric Schmitt, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, and Peter Baker. “Trump Agrees to Send Home Troops from Washington, Easing Tensions with the Pentagon.” New York Times, 4 June 2020.

  Isaac Arnsdorf. “Prominent GOP lobbyist Joins Trump Forces in Pennsylvania.” Politico, 26 April 2016.

  “John Bell Hood.” National Park Service.

  Douglas L. Kriner and Francis X. Shen. “Battlefield Casualties and Ballot Box Defeat: Did the Bush-Obama Wars Cost Clinton the White House?” SSRN, 19 June 2017.

  Chapter 10. Juneteenth, Observed

  “BOK Center’s Ne
w Renovations Are Underway.” KJRH, 13 September 2019.

  “New Public Policy Leadership Department Is 18th in College.” University of Mississippi.

  @realdonaldtrump (Donald J. Trump). “We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th—a big deal. Unfortunately, however, this would fall on the Juneteenth Holiday. Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out…” Twitter, 12 June 2020, 11:23 p.m. Trump Twitter Archive.

  Michael C. Bender and Rebecca Ballhaus. “Trump Put Re-Election Prospects Ahead of National Interest, Bolton Alleges.” Wall Street Journal, 17 June 2020.

  “Abbott Launches Molecular Point-of-Care Test to Detect Novel Coronavirus in As Little As Five Minutes” [press release]. Abbott, 27 March 2020.

  “Transcript of President Trump’s Interview with Wall Street Journal.” Wall Street Journal, 18 June 2020.

  “Top Battlegrounds: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona.” RealClearPolitics.

  Michael C. Bender and Catherine Lucey. “Trump Signals Re-Election Bid Will Echo 2016 Themes.” Wall Street Journal, 18 June 2019.

  “Speech: Donald Trump Announces His 2020 Candidacy at a Political Rally in Orlando—June 18, 2019.” Factbase.

  Rebecca Ballhaus and Julie Bykowicz. “Trump Picks ‘Data-Driven’ Digital Expert to Run 2020 Re-Election Campaign.” Wall Street Journal, 27 February 2018.

  Jeva Lange. “President Trump Has Already Filed for Re-election. That’s Not Normal.” The Week, 27 January 2017.

  Michael C. Bender. “Donald Trump Strikes Nationalistic Tone in Inaugural Speech.” Wall Street Journal, 20 January 2017.

  “Donald Trump Tulsa, Oklahoma Rally Speech Transcript.” Rev, 21 June 2020.

  Chapter 11. The Last MAGA Rally

  Melanie Grayce West. “New York City Kicks Off Covid-19 Vaccine Drive.” Wall Street Journal, 14 December 2020.