Trump aides say convincing him he lost is like ‘p***ing into the wind’

Trump remains fixated on non-existent possibility that reviews and audits of ballots pushed by his supporters could prove he won

Aides to former President Donald Trump says he remains obsessed with the 2020 election and convincing him that he lost is like “p***ing into the wind”.

The Trump campaign and its associates didn’t manage to prove in the courts that any major voter fraud took place.

But Mr Trump is still fixated on the non-existent possibility that reviews and audits of ballots pushed by his supporters could still prove that he won and overturn the election in his favour.

Advisors told The Washington Post that Mr Trump is relentlessly focused on the audit in Arizona, commissioned by Republicans, and is hoping to push for further reviews in states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Georgia.

Mr Trump has rejected advisors who have told him to move on. He recently told allies that if the audits were successful, he would be able to return to the White House. The Post reported that advisors characterized such statements as offhand musings.

Aides say he ravenously watches TV coverage of the Arizona recount and reads “everything he can get his hands on” concerning the audits.

The president of the Arizona state senate, Republican Karen Fann, has said multiple times that the recount is not meant to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the state, but to find ways to improve election laws.

Almost all of Mr Trump’s aides say they view his obsession with overturning the election as a waste of time as the law doesn’t allow for the clock to be turned back on Mr Biden’s victory.

But as aides try to speak about other issues, Mr Trump moves the conversation back to the 2020 election.

“Everyone is talking about Arizona,” he said to one aide who was trying to speak with the former president about endorsements for the 2022 midterms.

He brings up the issue at different events, such as galas for non-profits hosted at his Mar-a-Lago club. He’s made unplanned appearances at such events this spring, aides told The Post.

One advisor said that anyone who tells Mr Trump he lost the 2020 election is “p***ing into the wind”.

If advisors write speeches for him which don’t include any mentions of the attempts to go over the results of the 2020 election again, he improvises and speaks about the recounts and audits in specific detail.

New York Times reporter Maggie Habermann tweeted earlier this week that Mr Trump thinks he could be reinstated by August. The belief stems from a baseless conspiracy theory that Joe Biden didn’t legitimately win the 2020 election.

The Independent has reached out to the office of Mr Trump for comment.