An Ex-Staffer Says This Was One Of Donald Trump's Lowest Moments

For those who prefer to live in the land of MAGA, it seems those who lead it are in the throes of mounting panic and/or bitter disappointment. Following a bevy of subpoenas issued to a number of high-level peons of the Donald Trump administration in relation to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol — among them Breitbart founder and former adviser Steve Bannon and the Trump White House's ex-Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany – a choice few have found themselves in danger of counts of contempt. Though former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows seemed to be pulling the opposite of Bannon in cooperating with the House's January 6 select committee's investigation, Meadows has pulled a complete turnaround. Notably, it came on the heels of the publication of Meadows' Trump tell-all, "The Chief's Chief," which was published on December 7. And like Bannon, Meadows will most likely face contempt charges for his quick about-face after refusing to meet for a deposition the same day as his book release, per CBS News.

Since Meadows, for the time being, will most likely keep mum about his knowledge of the way January 6 played out, his book could end up being the only mouthpiece the public has for his insights. And, according to his own words, Trump's lowest point wasn't on the day of a national tragedy, but over another incident that occurred nearly a month prior.

Shortly after Mark Meadows (pictured above) cut his ties with the January 6 committee in early December, the former White House chief of staff saw Donald Trump at his most "despondent" nearly four weeks before the Capitol Hill insurrection, per Meadows' own observations contained in his Trump administration exposé. Tellingly, it intrinsically involved a major component that allegedly fed into the actions of rioters on that day: Trump's claims of election fraud in November 2020. 

Per Insider, the day in question was December 11, 2020 — the same day the Supreme Court summarily put a kibosh on a Texas lawsuit that aimed to overturn the election results, which established current President Joe Biden as the victor. Though Meadows' recollection of the basis behind the decision was incorrect (as Insider pointed out, Meadows wrote Trump had "no standing" to bring forth the suit, whereas the court ruled the state of Texas was the entity with no standing), his description of Trump's reaction was purportedly crystal clear. "If he didn't have standing, I wondered, who did?" Meadows recalled in his book, later adding, "to this day, I don't think I've ever seen President Trump quite as despondent as he was when I walked into the Oval Office in late December."

Insider also reported Meadows' book contained other factual errors, including, in Meadows' words, "the facts of fraud were not looked at by the judges and courts."