Trump still privately pushes the groundless claim that the 2020 election result can be canceled and he can return to power, report says

• Trump has privately expressed support for the idea that he can be returned to power, NYT reported.
• Trump allies are still trying to get the result of the 2020 election "decertified," the report said.

Former President Donald Trump is privately pushing the claim that the result of the 2020 presidential election could still be overturned and he could return to power, The New York Times reported.

In the Monday report, The Times detailed how a group of Trump allies, including the conservative attorney John Eastman, were continuing to press state legislatures to cancel Joe Biden's victory on the basis of discredited legal theories. It's a move some claim could lead to Trump returning to office.

Trump is also continuing to push that idea in private, The Times reported, as he prepares for another potential presidential bid in 2024.

Ever since his defeat in the 2020 election, Trump has pushed the claim that he was deprived of victory as a result of a vast plot by Democrats, though he and allies have offered no convincing evidence to substantiate the claim. They have also launched a series of court cases challenging the election results, almost all of which have failed.

That claim incited Trump supporters to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a bid to halt Biden's certification as president.

Both Trump and Eastman are being scrutinized by the House committee probing the Capitol attack. In a memo obtained by the committee, Eastman had laid out a plan that included the false claim that Biden's Electoral College votes could be canceled on the basis on bogus election-fraud claims.

But the legal pressure has not stopped Eastman continuing his bid to overturn the election.

According to multiple reports, Eastman recently visited the Republican speaker of the state legislature in Wisconsin and tried to persuade him to decertify the 2020 election.

Other Trump allies have also championed similar bids in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin, despite legal experts saying there is no constitutional basis for election results to be canceled long after the fact, The Times reported.

Trump's spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.