After it became clear that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump told family members that they should continue to "fight like hell" regardless of the results, according to a court filing by special counsel Jack Smith that was unsealed Wednesday.
"It doesn't matter if you won or lost the election," he said following his November 2020 defeat, according to a witness who overheard the remark. "You still have to fight like hell."
Trump made the comment to "his wife, daughter and son-in-law," according to Smith's filing. The conversation took place on Marine One, per Smith, long after the "defendant had begun spreading false fraud claims" about the election.
Fighting like hell is a refrain that Trump has often used to direct his supporters during and after the 2020 election, especially in the context of resisting a legitimate democratic process that experts have long confirmed saw close to zero successful fraud.
Trump might also have been referring to members of his inner circle, including former Vice President Mike Pence and several campaign and party officials, who were increasingly viewed as obstacles to retaining his grip on the White House after they pushed back against his baseless claims of fraud. When his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and endangered Pence, Trump allegedly reacted with a nonchalant: "So what?"
"The defendant disregarded [redacted] and Pence in the same way that he disregarded dozens of court decisions that unanimously rejected his and his allies' legal claims, and that he disregarded officials in the targeted states — including those in his own party — who stated publicly that he had lost and that his specific fraud allegations were false," the filing said.
Trump is evidently furious at Judge Tanya Chutkan's decision to unseal the filing, which reveals a trove of other damaging stories concerning his efforts to not only cast doubt on the election but directly pressure officials to throw out votes for President Joe Biden. Within minutes of the filing's release, Trump took to Truth Social to rage against "Harris-Biden regime" and its alleged attempt to "INTERFERE IN THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION."
