MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A newly released audio recording offers a behind-the-scenes look at how former President Donald Trump’s campaign team in a key battleground state learned he had been defeated by Democrats in the 2020 presidential election. it is largely denied – repeatedly – ​​by election officials and the courts.
Audio from November 5, 2020, two days after the election, appeared as Trump again sought the White House while continuing to lie about the legitimacy of the results and the victory of Democrat Joe Biden.
Wisconsin political operatives in a strategy session even praised the Democratic turnout efforts in the state’s largest county and appeared to joke about efforts to engage Black voters, according to a recording obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The audio centers on Andrew Iverson, who is the head of Trump’s campaign in the country.
“Here’s the deal: Comms will continue to keep our spirits up and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever it takes. Just be ready for any stunts we have to pull,” Iverson said.
Iverson is currently the Midwest regional director for the Republican National Committee. He deferred questions about the meeting to the RNC, whose spokesman, Keith Schipper, declined to comment because he had not heard the tape.
Former Republican campaign officials and operatives who provided copies of the tapes to the AP were at the meeting and took notes. The operatives were not authorized to speak publicly about what they discussed and did not want to be identified out of concern for personal and professional retaliation, but said they were moving forward as Trump attempted a third attempt at the White House.
In response to questions about the audio, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said: “The 2024 campaign is focused on competing in every state and winning in a dominant way. That’s why President Trump is leading by a wide margin in poll after poll.
Wisconsin was a big part of Trump’s victory in 2016, when he defeated the so-called “Blue Wall” Democrats in the upper Midwest, and his campaign fought hard to keep the swing state in that column four years later before losing. Biden
Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that withstood independent and partisan audits and reviews, as well as lawsuits and recounts in the state’s two largest and most Democratic counties.
However, two days after the election, there was no discussion of Trump winning the state during Republican campaign operations meetings.
However, part of the meeting focused on discussions about packing up the campaign office and writing a final report on how the campaign went. At one point in the recording, Iverson is heard praising the GOP’s efforts while acknowledging the margin of Trump’s defeat in the state.
“At the end of the day, this operation received more votes than any other Republican in the history of Wisconsin,” Iverson said. “Say what you want, our operations are Republican supporters or DJT. The Democrats have gotten 20,000 more than us, from Dane County and other shenanigans in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Dane. A lot of people can learn from this campaign.
The meeting represents another juxtaposition between what Republican officials know about the election results and what Trump and his closest allies say publicly as they push for a stolen election. Trump has been told by his own attorney general there are no signs of widespread fraud, and many in his own administration have told the former president there is no substance to the various claims of fraud or manipulation – advice Trump has repeatedly ignored.
In the weeks after the election, Trump and his allies will file dozens of lawsuits, collect fake voters and pressure election officials in an effort to overturn the will of the voters and keep Trump in office.
It’s unclear whether staffers in Wisconsin coordinated the message directly with campaign officials in Washington.
Part of the meeting November 5 centers also on Republican outreach efforts to the Black community of the country.
At one point, the operators laughed at the need for “another black vote for Trump.” Iverson also references their efforts to engage with Black voters.
“We ever talked to a black man before? I don’t think so,” he said to the laughter of others in the room.
Another speaker on the recording with Iverson was identified by sources as GOP operative Clayton Henson. At the time, Henson was a regional director for the RNC in charge of Wisconsin and other Midwestern states. He gave a postmortem of sorts on the election, praising Republican turnout and campaign efforts while acknowledging a strong Democratic campaign.
Henson specifically referenced the Democratic turnout in Dane County, which includes Madison, the state capital, and is a liberal stronghold in the state. A record 80% of the voting-age population voted in 2020 in the district, which Biden won with 76% of the vote.
“Hats off to them for what they did in Dane County. You have to respect it,” said Henson. “There’s another election in a few years. So remember the lessons you’ve learned and get ready to go back.
Henson, reached by phone Thursday, said, “No thanks” when asked to comment on the meeting.