Trump ignored advice to wait for accurate election results, campaign manager testifies

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection opened its second hearing Monday with assertions that the Capitol attack was the direct result of Donald Trump’s repeated baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. In the second in a series of June hearings, panel members said they will also explore how Trump’s “big lie” drove Republican fundraising appeals after Joe Biden won the election.

The committee played video of its deposition with former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, in which Stepien said he advised Trump on election night that it was too early to call the race and that they needed to wait until early and mail-in ballots were counted. Trump objected to that advice, Stepien said, and claimed that night that he had won, baselessly calling the race a “fraud” and an “embarrassment.”

Chris Stirewalt, a former political editor for Fox News, testified that he was proud of his team’s decision to call Arizona for Joe Biden before other networks did on election night. He also said his team had gone to “pains” to inform viewers that a so-called “red mirage” — a Republican appearing to lead on election night — was likely to change after early votes were counted.