Former President Donald Trump is behaving like a "whiner" by obsessively focusing on false claims that he lost the 2020 presidential election due to massive fraud, according to Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
The conservative pundit urged Trump to "stop talking about 2020" if he wants to win the 2024 presidential election during the latest episode of The Ingraham Angle on Friday night, warning the ex-president that he would not win over "a single voter" if he does not change his tactics.
Ingraham also admonished Trump for launching attacks on Republican politicians in battleground states for failing to endorse him or being reluctant to swear their fealty, pointing out the former president's disparaging comments about Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
"Keep your eye on the prize: 270 electoral votes," Ingraham said, apparently addressing the former president directly. "Attacking popular Republican senators or governors in battleground states is more than unwise, it's self-destructive. Why do it?"
"Voters in a general election want to vote for a winner, not a whiner," she continued. "So please, for the love of God, stop talking about 2020. That will not bring a single voter out to support you who didn't support you before. You need to grow the pot, not shrink it."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump campaign via email on Friday.
Ingraham offered a different set of advice to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump's closest GOP rival for 2024, urging the governor to stop touting his accomplishments in Florida while campaigning nationally and to loosen his campaign's laser focus on "woke" issues.
"Talk about the economy," Ingraham said in comments directed toward DeSantis. "Smile also, have fun out there, don't be afraid to show your personality. And ask the people what's on their minds. I promise you, it will not be Disney or Bud Light."
Friday was not the first time that Ingraham has laid into Trump for continuing to focus on his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. During a broadcast in March, the Fox News host said that "marinating in old claims of election fraud will not win over a single voter in any state that [Trump] needs to win in 2024."
Trump denounced Ingraham in May for airing what he called a "hit piece" on polling that showed DeSantis may be a more formidable candidate than him in key swing states. In a Truth Social post, Trump suggested that Ingraham's ratings would nosedive and insisted that "actually polls show that I do MUCH better against Biden than" DeSantis.
On Friday, a poll released by the firm of Trump's own pollster indicated that DeSantis would pose a larger threat to Biden than the former president. The Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research poll, which surveyed 40 crucial "swing" districts, found that Biden was leading Trump by a 4-point margin, while Biden and DeSantis were tied.
