(JTA) – To cries of “four more years,” President Donald Trump told guests at a White House Chanukah party that he could stay in office “if certain people have wisdom and courage.” Trump skipped the first White House Chanukah party Wednesday evening. But he made an appearance at the second, where he once again said, falsely, that he won the election. “If certain people have wisdom and courage we’re going to win this election,” he said. Trump has said in the past that he hopes the Supreme Court’s conservative majority – including the three justices he nominated – would decide elections appeals in his favor. So far, the court has summarily rejected appeals to hear lower court decisions throwing out pro-Trump lawsuits against state officials who have declared Biden the winner. The latest lawsuit, brought by Texas’ Republican attorney general, seeks to nullify the results in four swing states where Biden was victorious. Election experts have ridiculed the lawsuit, but Trump has sought to join it.

A number of invitees to the two parties declined to attend, citing fears of the spread of the coronavirus; previous White House events are believed to have been “super spreaders” and were followed by multiple infections.

Main Photo: In this picture from a 2018 White House Hanukkah party, an attendee wears a kippah with an image of U.S. President Donald Trump. (Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images)