Trump’s actions normally have been difficult to dissect to make sense of what he does. However, his conduct since Election Day totally defy rational understanding. First of all, he has not spoken to the press or any outside people since his defeat and was out of the White House for the first time on Veterans’ Day to visit Arlington National Cemetery. Though all of the media have determined that he lost the presidential race, he insists that he won declaring Biden had numerous illegal votes and his own legal votes were not counted. He has repeatedly tweeted the election was stolen from him in spite of all the media naming Biden as the legitimate winner.
His close associates say to give him time to accept the loss as it has been a big blow to his ego. But every other presidential loser has been able to accept his loss and concede to the victor within a day or two. Trump refuses to concede and will not allow the transition process to go forward, having the head of the GSA refuse to provide the Biden team with funding or space to work on the transition. Why does Trump’s ego need to be especially assuaged like a five year old who has been kicking and screaming?
In addition, Trump has refused to allow any members of his administration to start looking for new jobs, under the threat of being fired. He is also preparing a budget for next year and vetting new people to hire for his new administration. These actions don’t just seem bizarre, but seem crazy. It appears that he really believes that he won the election and is going to be the next president. This is in spite of what he has been told by his associates in addition to all the media confirming Biden’s victory.
Trump has instituted a series of legal battles in a number of states claiming fraud, but has given no evidence of such when pressed by the judges. So far all of his legal maneuvers have been thrown out by the courts, though Georgia is going through a hand recount of over five million votes. It is not clear why he is going through all of these legal actions when his associates have told him they will bear no fruit.
It is also unclear what the next step will be in Trump’s bizarre journey. He speaks of running for president again in 2024 and still has a huge base that supports him. But do the majority of GOP politicians want him as the head of their ticket. Does he want to be a kingmaker and decide which candidates to back, raising money for his favorites? Will there be a time when he becomes so toxic, that Republican politicians shy away from him. People around him have spoken of Trump buying a TV station or a whole media network to keep the spotlight on himself and give publicity to his acolytes. He is worried about becoming irrelevant. There is also concern that he may sell classified information to foreign entities to try and solve his debts.
When he leaves the presidency, there will likely be a number of legal issues confronting him, including possible fraud and money laundering on a state level that cannot be pardoned away. He could very well wind up in jail for some of his corrupt activities. New York State is still coming after him. It may well be that Trump is kept so busy by his past corrupt actions that he won’t have time to delve back into politics. Let’s hope so.
www.robertlevinebooks.com
The Uninformed Voter- buy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble
Posted at 03:18 PM in Biden, conceding election, refusal to concede, presidential transition, Conspiracy theorists, Corruption, Covid 19, Corona virus, Cult of personality, Current Affairs, demagogue, Donald Trump, narcissism, Political corruption, Republican Party | Permalink
Tags: concession, Joe Biden, lost election, President Trump, refusal to concede
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020