Geraldo Rivera: Trump not speaking to me over position that election is over

Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera said Tuesday that President Trump was not speaking to him over his position that the election is over.

Rivera made the comment during an episode of “The Five” as the panel was discussing the coronavirus vaccine summit, adding that the president should be applauded for his role in handling the pandemic.

“I don’t mean to be petty or partisan. I just want you to know that as his friend — even if he may not be speaking to me right now because of my position on the election being over,” Rivera said. “But I think, I insist that we have to recognize the role he played, the 45th president, in defeating a pandemic that has been so devastating to America and the world.”

The hosts continued to discuss the summit and President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to distribute 100 million coronavirus vaccines in his first 100 days in office. Minutes later, Jesse Watters circled back to Rivera’s remark.

“Well, I can’t believe we’re just now talking about what Geraldo just said and that is that Geraldo and the president are no longer speaking with each other,” Watters said, making the other panelists laugh. “That’s just juicy gossip to me.”

“He didn’t take my calls the last two times I tried,” Rivera said in response. 

Rivera, a staunch ally of Trump, has joined a number of Republicans in acknowledging that Biden won the election even as the president himself continues to sow doubt about the election results.

Trump and his allies have filed multiple lawsuits in key battleground states seeking to challenge or overturn the election results, most of which have been unsuccessful. The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a bid to nullify Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania, dealing the latest legal blow.

And on Wednesday, Trump said he would intervene in Texas’s lawsuit against four states in an effort to halt electors from certifying Biden’s win.

–Updated at 2:54 p.m.