Former President Donald Trump on Monday announced he’ll begin to use the term “the big lie” – commonly used by his critics to describe his baseless election fraud claims – to refer to the 2020 election results, a sign he has no plans to tone down his rhetoric as one social media platform adjudicates his suspension.
In a statement sent through his political action committee, Save America PAC, Trump incorrectly blasted his loss in November as “The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020” and said it “will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!”
As Trump has mounted his return to the spotlight, he has again become increasingly vocal about his unfounded fraud claims, putting out statement after statement in recent days about an Arizona election audit many onlookers have labeled dubious.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 ranking House Republican and a vocal Trump critic, shot back on Twitter that the election “was not stolen,” adding, “Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE” and “poisoning our democratic system.”
But this latest development comes as Facebook announced Monday it would decide the fate of Trump’s account, which was suspended after his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 based on his fraud claims, on Wednesday.
TANGENT
Trump has claimed he is better off without social media, particularly Twitter, calling his press releases more “elegant” than tweets and arguing Twitter has “become totally BORING” even as he tried to tag a right-wing news network in a recent statement.
KEY BACKGROUND
As early as the morning after election day, Trump began falsely claiming victory, using the time it took to count mail-in ballots as a window of opportunity. He has refused to concede President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election even after putting out multiple video statements acknowledging he would be leaving office after his supporters stormed the Capitol.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“We will never give up. We will never concede,” Trump told a crowd of supporters gathered in front of the White House on Jan. 6 – some of whom later marched to the Capitol and stormed the building.
BIG NUMBER
70%. That’s the share of Republicans who believe Biden did not win enough votes to be president, according to a CNN poll of 1,004 U.S. adults released late last month.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Trump remains a major force in the GOP and all but a handful of Republican officials are at least publicly eager to keep it that way, but it remains a genuine mystery whether he will mount another bid for the White House. He said last month he is “very seriously, beyond seriously” considering a run.