NBC Reporter Grills WH Spox on Why Trump Can’t Let 2020 Election Loss Go

NBC News Chief White House correspondent Garrett Haake pressed Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on why the president can’t seem to let the 2020 election go ahead of his prime-time speech to the American people on Thursday night.

When called upon during Leavitt’s first press briefing since her return from maternity leave, Haake dug into President Donald Trump’s upcoming speech, where he is expected to reveal new evidence that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

“The 2020 election has had dozens of recounts, lawsuits, audits,” Haake said. “2024 election widely believed to be safe and secure. There’s not really any question about that. A lot of people –”

“Because it was too big to rig,” Leavitt interrupted, adding that there were “a massive amount of votes for this president” and, “that’s why he’s in the Oval Office right now.”

“No one disputes that,” Haake fired back. “And there were significant amount of votes for Joe Biden, who won in 2020. I think the question is, why is the president unable to let this go?”

What followed was a diatribe from Leavitt, where she scolded the media for failing to report on the “tens of millions of Americans” who share Trump’s concerns about election integrity.

She also wagged a finger at Haake for jumping to a conclusion about the speech before hearing it for himself, and urged the reporters in the briefing room to tune in because, she predicted, “It will shock you.”

Read the full exchange below:

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KAROLINE LEAVITT: Garrett, good to see you.

GARRET HAAKE: Karoline, welcome back.

LEAVITT: Good to see you.

HAAKE: Likewise. So the degree that this speech tonight is about elections past, not elections upcoming. The 2020 election has had dozens of recounts, lawsuits, audits. 2024 election widely believed to be safe and secure. There’s not really any question about that. A lot of people —

LEAVITT: Because it was too big to rig. A massive amount of votes for this president. That’s why he’s in the Oval Office right now.

HAAKE: No one disputes that. And there were significant amount of votes for Joe Biden, who won in 2020. I think the question is, why is the president unable to let this go?

LEAVITT: Well, first of all, Garrett, I think part of the problem is that the media has refused to acknowledge that tens of millions of Americans across the country share the concerns of this president about the sanctity of our elections, and your premise of your question, you’re jumping ahead to a conclusion in this speech before even hearing it yourself.

I think that everyone should tune in tonight, including the people in this room, and you should report on the president’s speech and the findings that he’s going to reveal in this speech with a little bit of honesty and a little bit of integrity because it does — it will shock you if you have an honest eye listening to the president tonight and everything he is saying will be backed by facts and by evidence that will be provided this evening.

And again, Garrett, again, I think all Americans, Democrat, Republicans should agree that we are the greatest country in the history of the world. We should have the safest and most secure elections in the history of the world, and what the president will be speaking about tonight will show you that perhaps that is not the case. And we need to make some adjustments moving forward, including the SAVE America act as Rachel pointed out, is a key legislative priority for this president on Capitol Hill and he wants to see all senators and members of Congress voting in favor of the save America act because it’s crucially important as we move forward.

Trump’s speech is slated to begin at 9 a.m. ET, and will reportedly focus on conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election.

Watch above via Fox News.

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