Visiting campaign headquarters, Trump says ‘losing is never easy’
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President Donald Trump remarked that “losing is never easy” during his first in-person appearance of Election Day, as he was surrounded by top aides and advisers accompanying him on a brief trip to his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va.
Asked by reporters Tuesday whether he had prepared alternate versions of speeches in preparation for the results of the election, Trump replied that he was “not thinking about [a] concession speech or acceptance speech yet.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be only doing one of those two,” he said. “And, you know, winning is easy. Losing is never easy. Not for me, it’s not.”
But Trump also said he heard his reelection effort was “doing well all over,” specifically mentioning the campaign’s performance in the battlegrounds of Arizona, Florida and Texas.
“The lines have been amazing, and I think we’re going to have a great night. We’re going to have a great night,” he said. “And we’re going to have — much more importantly, we’re going to have a great four years.”
The president seemed more subdued as he thanked the “young, attractive people” who worked as staffers on his campaign, and he acknowledged that his voice sounded “a little bit choppy” after participating in five campaign rallies Monday.
Apart from a phone interview Tuesday morning on “Fox & Friends,” Trump had not spoken publicly prior to his visit to his campaign headquarters. The stop was his only event on his official schedule.
Trump did not wear a face mask as he addressed the media, nor did several of the officials standing nearby — including campaign manager Bill Stepien, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
Other officials who could be seen with face coverings were campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh, campaign director of strategic communications Marc Lotter, campaign national press secretary Hogan Gidley, and campaign senior advisers Jason Miller and Mercedes Schlapp.
