Breaking News | This Election Is Now Over

A day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, staff for Donald Trump prepared a statement for him to read to the nation, reassuring a rattled country that an orderly transition was now underway to the victor of the November 2020 election, Joe Biden.

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“This election is now over. Congress has certified the results,” Trump was to tell Americans.

But he couldn’t do it.

“I don’t want to say the election’s over,” Trump said as he recorded the statement on Jan. 7. “I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election is over.”

Outtakes of the taping played Thursday evening by the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol revealed the former president’s frustration and pique at struggling through his script. He clenched his jaw. He slammed his right palm on the lectern. His daughter Ivanka Trump coached him from the sidelines.