Donald Trump’s legal battle to overturn the election isn’t going well for him.
His legal team continues to lose cases in the key states it so desperately hoped to win back from Joe Biden.
They’ve been trying to make the case for a grand conspiracy – concocted by everyone from China, to Venezuela, to Joe Biden himself. But it ain’t working.
Most TV networks in the US have stopped even airing their claims – concerned the unsubstantiated comments are damaging to America’s democracy.
But Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax, a journalist of 30 years and a close friend of Donald Trump, is willing to give it airtime.
:: You can hear more from our conversation on the Divided States podcast, along with an interview with Dr Anthony Fauci – subscribe to Divided States on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Spreaker
And he’s enjoyed a big spike in ratings ever since. In an interview, he told me: “Our position is that we’re waiting for the recount process on the certification, and the legal process.
“We’re not against Joe Biden, we’re not going to oppose him. It appears that he’s the likely winner, we’re going to accept that.”
Chris Ruddy is a journalist of 30 years and a close friend of Donald Trump
But Mr Trump’s opponent has an increasingly staggering lead – seven million votes currently – 80.9 million overall.
But for Mr Ruddy, the “slim” margins in certain key battlegrounds justify his stance.
“In Georgia, it was less than a quarter of a percent. They’re now on their third recount, and there’s additional legal suits being filed.”
But Newsmax has also provided a platform for some wild uncorroborated discussion.
In one clip, the president’s favourite rally duo, Diamond and Silk claim the “China virus” and the “scamdemic” are linked to an overall plan for the Democrats to rig the election.
Mr Ruddy says they are in the “nebulous area between comedians and commentators” and free speech means they should be able to share their views.
Attorney general William Barr has not found any evidence of voter fraud
For what it’s worth, his view is that there is “no conspiracy”. He doesn’t “buy the arguments about the Dominion voting system” and he hasn’t seen any evidence of wrongdoing.
But he does think the process for mail-in ballots was irregular.
Over Thanksgiving he spoke with President Trump on the phone who he said was “confident” about his legal fight, but still “very upset” about the election results.
His close friend thinks he should prepare to concede on 14 December when the electors meet in each state and cast their ballots for president and vice president.
Despite all the speculation, he doesn’t think Mr Trump will run again.
“He’s going to really like the influence and the lifestyle he has as a former president.”
He also doesn’t think he’ll start his own TV channel as many have speculated, but he’s convinced he’ll remain a “media omnivore” and hugely influential.
