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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Graig Graziosi

Trump has avoided American public for 10 days

Photograph: REUTERS

It has been 10 days since America last saw Donald Trump in public.  

Mr Trump has spent most of his days since his election defeat out of public view and focused on challenging the results of the poll, rather than on the coronavirus pandemic.

Since 3 November, Mr Trump has spent much of his time out of the public eye, hidden in the White House, tweeting and pushing conspiracy theories about election fraud.  

His last public appearance was a small ceremonial bill signing on 17 December. Before that – 13 December – he was seen playing golf in Virginia at his course in the area, and the day before that he attended the Army-Navy football game at West Point.  

Despite the worsening coronavirus pandemic, Mr Trump has decided to focus his time and attention on his doomed campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election.  

During the one public appearance Mr Trump has made to discuss the virus since the election, he used his time to take credit for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.  

Since 3 November, he has done one on-camera interview, taken questions from reporters twice – once discussing the vaccine and once on Thanksgiving – and spent nine days golfing.  

Mr Trump isn't just ducking reporters; he has had only one rally since the election, and has skipped his annual move to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, instead opting to stay in the White House.  

Mr Trump's digital presence is still very apparent, however. 

In addition to launching into rage-fuelled Twitter rants about Democrats allegedly stealing the election, harassing Republicans who refuse to support his challenges, and taking credit for the coronavirus vaccine, Mr Trump has also been calling into events to offer his perspective.  

In late November, Mr Trump was scheduled to join his lawyers, Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, at a Republican meeting in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to sell the idea that massive election fraud had occurred.  

Mr Trump cancelled at the last minute, opting to call in to the hearing instead.  

On Sunday, the president made two public calls; one to the TurningPoint USA conference in Florida, where he ran through his litany of election fraud claims to a crowd of adoring fans chanting "four more years," and another to a show called "Uncovering the Truth" hosted by Mr Giuliani and Dr Maria Ryan.  

Mr Trump has been focused on pressuring Republican officials to work with him to overturn the results of the election for the past several weeks.  

The president recently faced criticism for downplaying a massive, months-long hacking campaign that US intelligence officials have blamed on Russia.  

He contradicted his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who said it was "pretty clearly" Russians who triggered the hack. The breach targeted US governmental agencies and – potentially – hundreds of major US corporations.  

Mr Trump tweeted out that the people behind the hack "may be China"  and offered little else on the issue.

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