‘Just say we won,’ Giuliani told Trump aides on election night: book

Former President Trump’s ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani advised campaign aides on election night in November to “just say we won” as the vote counts were still coming in and the results of the presidential election were widely unknown, according to a new book.

Giuliani huddled with Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien, chief of staff Mark Meadows and White House adviser Stephen Miller at the White House to discuss the incoming vote tallies, Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Phillip Rucker report in “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year.”

“What’s happening in Michigan?” Giuliani asked, according to the book.

The trio of Stepien, Meadows and Miller reportedly informed him that the votes were still being counted and it was too early to tell. Giuliani then informed the men of his strategy, Leonnig and Rucker write.

“Just say we won,” Giuliani told them, according to the book.

When discussing Pennsylvania, the authors write, Giuliani floated the same idea: “Just say we won Pennsylvania.”

They added that Stepien, Miller and Meadows thought Giuliani’s plan, to say Trump won state after state without any evidence to bolster the claims, was “both incoherent and irresponsible.”

“We can’t,” Meadows reportedly told the lawyer, raising his voice.

Nonetheless, Trump declared victory in the presidential race even as millions of votes were being counted across the state.

The Washington Post on Tuesday published an excerpt of the book, which is set to be released on July 20.  

Leonnig and Rucker also write that Trump was in an “upbeat” mood the morning of the election. He reportedly had a hoarse voice from his string of rallies in the final days of the campaign but went around telling his aides, “I can’t lose to this f—— guy,” referring to then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

The excerpt published by the Post also illustrates Trump’s frustration with Fox News on election night, when the network called the battleground state of Arizona for Biden.

Trump reportedly ordered senior advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Miller to call executives at Fox News and urge them to reverse their call in Arizona.

“What the f— is Fox doing?” Trump screamed, according to the book.

“What the f— are these guys doing? How could they call this this early?” he reportedly added.