US election judicial battle may drag on, George Gigicos tells Kathimerini
“Every vote matters,” which is why US President Donald Trump and his team are likely to continue fighting the results of the election all the way to the end of the year, according to George Gigicos, the Republican candidate’s former director of advance and operations and deputy assistant.
Speaking to Kathimerini, the Greek-American adviser who served as the head of the White House team that organized all of the president’s events and held a similar role during his first presidential campaign in 2016, foresees a lengthy judicial battle ahead.
When do you think the issue is finally going to be settled? How far will the president push this legal action? Could it go on until the end of December?
I think it very well could. Look, every vote should be counted. Every vote matters. You can’t disenfranchise people. In some of these states they’re finding ballots in post offices still on the floor, they’re finding ballots in dumpsters. Some of the ballot boxes that were there were out in the streets, a couple of them were lit on fire. So, yeah, I think that this could last a while. I think he’s going to press it in the legal system as well. He should, if, in fact, there is proof that there has been some tampering. It could go on for a while.
You know how Donald Trump thinks, politically. Tell us how he has proved so resilient, despite the coronavirus.
One thing that I learned four years ago is that nobody works harder than Donald Trump – that’s just a fact. If you look at what he did in the last week of the campaign, I think he had 30-something rallies all over the country. In the last 96 hours alone, he had 17 rallies. It’s unheard of. He resonates with people. That’s the bottom line. Unfortunately, the country is so divided politically; you either love him or hate him. And he was not only running against Joe Biden; he was running against the media and an opposition, the Democrats, who totally disrespect and hold him in such low regard. It’s been a tough go for him politically and the fact that he is still in the hunt now is unbelievable to a lot of people. Look, every poll, every pundit, never in a million years did they think we would be here right now. In 2016, Hillary was measuring the drapes in the White House and it didn’t happen for her. Same thing here; everyone predicted a big blue wave was going to sweep the country and there was no blue wave.
Give us a sense of how the campaign works behind the scenes? Does Trump listen to his advisers and media consultants or is Trump just Trump?
Donald Trump’s a fighter. From what I understand, he is very calm and he is seeing how this plays out. They’re making very smart and methodical decisions.
And if he is re-elected, what will his second term look like? That’s what everyone is wondering.
I think, first and foremost, we’ve got to get behind this horrible pandemic that’s affected everybody. Before the pandemic, we had the greatest economy we’ve ever had. We were the envy of the world. And when America does good, everybody does good. I think his first priority is going to be to get these vaccines out, get them distributed and start rebuilding the economy. He did it once. I think he can do it again.
And who will be there to check on him? It’s a hard question, because if he gets re-elected, I imagine he’ll feel like it’s him and his choices and his decisions, and nothing else.
We have a system of checks and balances. We have the House of Representatives, which remains in Democratic control. I think you’ll see a change of leadership there with the new speaker of the House. Possibly we will retain control of the Senate. We have a system of checks and balances; that’s one of the things that makes our country great.
And if he loses? Will he go off into the sunset and become a private businessman, or are we going to see more of him in politics? What’s your feeling?
The Republican Party right now is as Donald Trump’s Republican Party; he is the leader of the party. If he loses and doesn’t get re-elected, I don’t see him quietly riding off into the sunset. At all. I don’t know to what extent, but I think Donald Trump will be making noise in the country and fighting for what he believes in for a very long time.
What’s your sense of the Greek-American community? Which way did they vote this time around?
I think both campaigns, Biden and Trump, had very impressive Greek-American coalitions for the most part. A lot of Greeks love Donald Trump, but, like the rest of the country, there’s a lot that don’t, too. So I think it was pretty evenly split. It’ll be interesting to see what that statistic is when they when they get to that in a few months.
Would you go back to work for Trump if he’s re-elected?
I’m perfectly happy at Dynamis Advisors. I will support my president no matter who it is, just as I supported President Obama even though I did not agree with many of his policies, much like I don’t agree with many of Joe Biden’s policies. Whoever wins will be my president and I will do what’s right for my country. But going back into government service is not going to happen for me. I’m very happy where I am. And I want to get back to Greece.
