Aides had to scramble to ensure Trump didn't take Rudy Giuliani's election night advice
As the Election Night results rolled in, it became clear to President Donald Trump's team that things weren't going as they anticipated.
Eric Trump reportedly "flipped out," asking "how can this be happening?" But, according to Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig's book, I Alone Can Fix It, it was revealed that Rudy Giuliani was trying to convince Trump to declare victory regardless of the results.
The White House had an election "war room" set up in the Map Room of the West Wing. But Rudy Giuliani was staged in his own little "command center" in the formal part of the White House on the second floor, in the Red Room. He was joined by his son Andrew, who is now running for governor in New York.
"The Giulianis made for an odd scene, as partygoers swirled around them," the book recalled. "After a while, Rudy Giuliani started to cause a commotion. He was telling other guests that he had come up with a strategy for Trump and was trying to get into the president's private quarters to tell him about it. Some people thought Giuliani may have been drinking too much and suggested to [campaign manager Bill] Stepien that he go talk to the former New York mayor. Stepien, Meadows and Jason Miller took Giuliani down to a room just off the Map Room to hear him out."
"What's happening in Michigan?" Giuliani asked. But none of them knew, it was too early to call.
That's when Giuliani suggested that the president declare victory, even if it was clear that he didn't win and that the election was too early to call for states that aren't allowed to count ballots until after polls close.
When it came to Pennsylvania, Giuliani suggested the same.
"Just say we won Pennsylvania," Giuliani said, according to the book. "Giuliani's grand plan was to just say Trump won, state after state, based on nothing."
The campaign decided against it.
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