Off the Record on January 7, 2021

“But this election is now over. Congress has certified the results,” Trump started, before stopping. “I don’t want to say the election is over. I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election’s over, OK?”

Source: The White House

(Audibly, First Daughter in Chief spoke, “But Congress has certified…” to helpfully clarify the precise statement as they worked out the words…)

But there’s an unrecorded response from that one honorable person left in the room:

“No, Mr. President, that is not OK. You have to say that the election is over because otherwise people may still engage in violence and more people may die.”

The unrecorded hypothetical response from the previous guy:

“Well, I’m the President, so I get to choose my own words and my own messages, OK? You can go home because you’re no fucking good. You’re fired.”

The final unrecorded response from everyone outside the room:

“No, Mr. President, we’re the American people. You do not get to overrule our votes. If you say that we voted for you when we did not, then we get to fire you.”