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- President Trump seemed to be on verge of acknowledging Biden’s election victory on Friday, adding that “time will tell.”
- Speaking about the possibility of a national lockdown by the Biden administration, Trump said: “Hopefully the – whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration will be.”
- Trump’s remarks from the White House Rose Garden are his first since losing the presidential election to President-elect Joe Biden last weekend.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
President Trump came very close to admitting his defeat in the US presidential election on Friday while making his first public remarks in a week.
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Trump was discussing the possibility of the Biden administration implementing a national lockdown when he had to catch himself, before accidentally almost admitting defeat.
“Ideally, we won’t go to a lockdown. I will not go – this administration will not be going to a lockdown,” the president told reporters, according to the Washington Post.
He continued: “Hopefully the – whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration will be.”
“Whatever happens in the future,” Trump added. “Who knows, which administration it will be — I guess time will tell — but I can tell you this administration will not go to a lockdown.”
Watch the slip-up below:
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 13, 2020
Trump’s remarks from the Rose Garden are his first since losing the presidential election to President-elect Joe Biden on November 7. Decision Desk HQ and Insider made the call at 8:50 a.m. ET on Friday, November 6.
Since his win, Biden has launched his transition efforts even though Trump has not conceded and continues, without evidence, to dispute the election results.
The president has posted dozens of tweets and retweets in the past week about the election – which he has called “rigged” – but had not been seen in public until appearing for a Veteran’s Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday.
During his press conference, Trump did not comment on the election but mostly focused on touting the effectiveness of Operation Warp Speed, his administration’s coronavirus vaccine program.
The president said the program was “unequaled and unrivaled,” and that it was “five times faster than the fastest vaccine development in history,” according to the Post.
Moncef Slaoui, the top scientist involved in the initiative, also said on Friday that 20 million Americans could receive a COVID-19 vaccine in December.
Slaoui said 25 million to 30 million Americans could be immunized each month after that.
- Read more:
- Trump asked aides if he could pursue a wild plan to replace the Electoral College with loyalists who would ignore the vote, report says
- Trump won’t run for president in 2024 because he’s too scared to ‘lose like this again,’ his niece Mary says
- YouTube defends leaving up videos that falsely claim Trump won the election
- Upset and refusing to accept the election results, Trump appears to have forgotten he still has to govern
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