Trump and family silent for hours after Biden wins election

In a presidency known for never-ending tweets, the silence online is conspicuous

(REUTERS)

Rapid-fire tweeting has defined Donald Trump’s political career, but since the major networks called the presidential election for Joe Biden, Mr Trump and his inner circle of family members have largely remained conspicuously quiet online for hours.

The president himself reacted a few minutes after the election was called, falsely claiming in a flagged tweet that he won by “a lot”, even though he likely lost the Electoral College by at least 9 votes, and the popular vote by more than 4 million.  Since then though, he hasn’t said anything on Twitter.

Many of the president’s children and family members, regular surrogates on the campaign trail, have gone similarly silent, including first lady Melania Trump, as well as Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump,  and Lara Trump. 

Eric Trump, the president’s son, shared a video of supporters in Pennsylvania demanding an audit of the vote, while his sister Tiffany Trump recently retweeted a post accusing Google of “pro-liberal bias” that shifted “millions of votes,” from a psychologist who previously did disputed research on how tech companies influenced the 2016 election.

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Mary Trump, the president’s niece, who wrote a recent scathing book about her uncle calling him “the world’s most dangerous man”, tweeted a celebratory photo with a Biden-Harris hat and a glass of champagne.  

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The Trump team’s silence shouldn’t be taken as acquiescence, however. The president has repeated the unsubstantiated claim that he is the true victor but for voter fraud, and on Friday, as president-elect Biden neared 270 electoral votes, Fox News reported the president doesn’t have plans to concede yet and will likely demand recounts in key battleground states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona.

The Trump campaign has also made repeated, unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud and launched about a dozen lawsuits challenging election procedure around the country, though so far none have succeeded in changing the election results.