According to a new book by New York Times journalists Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, former President Donald Trump chose to surround himself with conspiracy theory peddlers like disgraced attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani because his most trusted confidants in his inner circle did not believe his false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
Citing an excerpt of the book, The Times reported that even longtime Trump confidant Hope Hicks, who had worked with him since the start of the 2016 presidential campaign, told him she would not indulge his delusions about having won the 2020 election.
Trump responded “bitterly,” Baker and Glasser wrote.
“Well, Hope doesn’t believe in me,” he said.
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“No, I don’t,” she replied. “Nobody’s convinced me otherwise.”
“Hicks would subsequently disappear from the White House in Trump’s final two months,” the report states. She was soon followed by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Feeling isolated, Trump sought solace in conspiracy theorists who would tell the twice-impeached former president what he wanted to hear about the purportedly “stolen” election, which in turn would lead to the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.
The book, titled “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021,” is set to be released on September 20, 2022.
