Donald Trump’s continuing refusal to accept the results of the election has now veered into unhinged conspiracy theories, aided and abetted by his personal lawyers, Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. At a news conference on November 19th, Giuliani claimed Biden’s victory was the result of a vast conspiracy involving voting machine tampering and communist money funneled through Cuba and Venezuela. This despite the fact that states’ election officials, many of them Republicans, have repeatedly stated that there is no evidence of widespread tampering or fraud.
Multiple lawsuits shotgunned across battleground states by Trump minions have, at last count, produced only two minor wins out of over thirty filings. None of the rulings have moved the needle significantly on Trump’s vote totals.
A manual recount in Georgia refuted the notion of widespread voter fraud and faulty software glitches in voting machines. Twenty five percent of Georgia counties produced the exact same results and, where discrepancies resulted, they shifted only a minuscule number of votes. Trump still lost the popular vote in Georgia by over 12,000 votes.
Feverish fears that Trump will refuse to step down are unfounded. At 12:01 PM on January 20th, 2021, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States and if Trump is still in the White House he will likely be escorted out by the Secret Service or Capitol Police. Perhaps Melania and other members of his family can successfully prevail upon Trump to acknowledge his defeat and step down. Trump should concede graciously and attend Biden’s inauguration. To do any less will irreversibly tarnish Trump’s legacy and diminish those accomplishments that are now firmly in his column. The longer this charade continues, the less influence Trump is likely to have in the post-Trump GOP.