PRELUDE to THE FINAL BATTLE: WHY THE NEXT ELECTION COULD BE THE LAST by David Horowitz For the 1,357 inhabitants of Butler, Pennsylvania, the high point of 2020 was, without question, the October 31 campaign rally for president Donald J. Trump. Three days before the election, on a chilly Pennsylvania night, more than 50,000 people gathered in the airport of this tiny Steel Belt town, located 35 miles north of Pittsburgh. It was Trump's fourth rally of the day, and the crowd had come to hear the candidate's blunt delivery, unpredictable asides, and familiar jibes at Biden and the Democrats. They came to chant "USA! USA!" and to hear once more his promise to make America prosperous, safe, and great again.1 Trump's final seventeen hours of campaigning had included more than 3,000 miles of flights and motorcades, 367 minutes of rallies and--in the words of one Wall Street Journal reporter, "five awkward and hilarious stage dances to [the popular song] 'YMCA'"2 A Trump rally was always an entertainment. At one point in the evening, the crowd became so ardent--as similar rallies had before--that it began to chant "We love you!" and did so over and over, until Trump responded: "Thank you. Don't say that. I'll start to cry and that wouldn't be good for my image."3 It was an uncharacteristically emotional moment, displaying a self-awareness and even self-deprecation, that went generally unacknowledged by Trump's legion of haters. In the 21 days between his recovery from the Covid he had contracted at a White House gathering, and the November election, the tireless candidate had held a total of 45 rallies, each attended by thousands and even tens of thousands of supporters. When Election Day arrived, Trump returned to the White House in the presidential helicopter. Marine One touched down on the South Lawn at 3 a.m. When Trump arrived home, he was so exhausted that he overslept and was 45 minutes late for a 7:00 a.m. interview on Fox and Friends. After the show, Trump did a radio interview with a conservative talk show host in Pennsylvania. "The ultimate poll," he told the interviewer, "are these massive crowds that are showing up to rallies. Nobody's seen anything like it ever."4 At 11:08 p.m. a current of optimism rippled through the White House where members of the Trump team had gathered to watch the returns. When the key state of Florida went to Trump, and by a larger margin than in 2016, it seemed to signal the tipping of enough battleground contests to carry him to victory. He had been told by his pollster John McLaughlin that he needed 66 million votes to win; he was on track to get 74 million. But 21 minutes later, Fox declared the Republican state of Arizona for Biden with only 30 percent of the votes counted, and the air came out of the Trump team balloon. Trump called his friend, Fox chief Rupert Murdoch to try to get him to withdraw the Fox election report. But to no avail. For the next hours Trump had a hard time accepting that the tide had turned and he was going to lose. For a straw to grasp onto, he could look to Pennsylvania, where he was still ahead by 690,000 votes. But unknown to him a massive influx of late votes was going to strip him of that lead, and in other battleground states as well. As media outlet after media outlet declared the election for Biden on the basis of incomplete returns, Trump attempted to fight back. "They're trying to steal the election," he said in a televised address to his supporters on November 4. "And we can't let that happen. . . . Frankly, we did win this election."5 But the forces seeking to seal the win for Biden proved overwhelming. They even included prominent Republicans who were concerned about the consequences of a disputed result, and declared the election over to avoid that prospect. Facing impossible odds, Trump closeted himself in the White House, where he remained silent for the next few days. On Saturday, November 7, Trump left the White House for the first time that week to golf at his club in Sterling, Virginia. As he was about to tee off at the seventh hole, he received a call from his son-in-law Jared Kushner who told him the networks were about to call the election in Pennsylvania for Biden. Pennsylvania's twenty electoral votes would give Biden the 270 he needed to win the presidency. According to eye-witnesses, "Trump took the call calmly. He nonchalantly strolled through the grass as he talked with his son-in-law for a few minutes, handed the phone back to an aide, and then finished the last twelve holes of the course as a motorcade of two dozen golf carts--filled with Secret Service agents, law enforcement, and White House aides--trailed behind him."6 While Trump was still finishing his golf game, club members had gathered to shout their encouragement, telling him he had won, and to finish the fight. "Don't worry, Trump said. "It's not over yet." Excerpted from Final Battle: Why the Next Election Could Be the Last by David Horowitz All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
