By Manny Otiko, IVN Staff Writer
Democrat Joe Biden is president-elect, but not if President Donald Trump has anything to do with it. Almost a week after the election has been called for Biden, Trump shows no sign of accepting his loss. Many Trump supporters are acting like he still has a chance of winning a second term, even though several media outlets have called the election for Biden, who’s projected to win 306 electoral college votes.
Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee,’s attitude exemplifies Trump’s hold over the GOP. Trump acts like he’s still president, and many Republicans are scared to run afoul of him.
“Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Wednesday deleted a tweet that implicitly admitted that President Donald Trump has lost the 2020 election,” said The Daily Beast. “Her tweet, posted earlier in the day, noted that Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the deciding vote in the Senate if Democrats won both runoff races in Georgia. The tweet, prior to her removing it, was retweeted by the Republican Party’s official Twitter account.”
But the same behavior was seen in Robert Jeffress, head of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas and staunch Republican. Last week he congratulated Biden, who he said was the next president. But a few days later, he walked it back.
Last week, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford said he would step in and make sure Biden was getting national security briefings since Trump staff refused to do this. But a week later and he’s had a change of mind. In an interview with Newsmax, he now claims his words were “misinterpreted.”
“And other networks blew this up, saying ‘Oh my gosh, there’s this Republican senator that’s now shifting away and is reporting Joe Biden now to be president or opposed to the president,’” said Lankford. “It’s the furthest thing from the truth, what was actually or is going on.”
Trump is currently trying to overturn several states’ election results through a series of lawsuits. But most of them have been unsuccessful, mainly because his legal team can’t provide any evidence of fraud.
The president has placed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as head of his legal team. But Giuliani is now more known for spouting conspiracy theories during TV interviews than his legal work. Giuliani was also featured in the latest “Borat” movie in a compromising situation with an actress who claimed she was 15. According to several media reports, a recent White House meeting featuring Trump’s legal team descended into a screaming match.
However, Ted Olsen, who was part of the legal team that argued in favor of awarding the 2000 election to George W. Bush, said a Trump court victory was unlikely.
“And we have — I do believe the election is over — we do have a new president,” said Olsen during a Federalist Society panel.
However, some Republicans are breaking rank and declaring that Trump’s stalling is bad for the country. Tim Miller, a writer for The Bulwark, an online publication targeted at never Trumpers, criticized fellow Republicans for kowtowing to Trump and putting the country in danger.
“Even in the face of Trump’s humiliating defeat at the hands of an opponent they believe to be weak and suffering from dementia, Republicans and conservative commentators continue to enable the human embodiment of what they once decried,” said Miller.
However, Trump’s failure to cooperate with the incoming Biden administration puts the country in danger as Biden’s national security officials don’t receive briefings.
President-elect Biden has called Trump’s behavior embarrassing and dangerous. And former first lady Michelle Obama, who often stays out of commenting about politics, also criticized Trump’s behavior.
“This isn’t a game. Our democracy is so much bigger than anybody’s ego,” wrote Obama in an Instagram post.
Meanwhile, recent revelations show Trump plans to leave while creating as much chaos as possible for Biden. A New York Times article stated that last week, Trump wanted to launch an attack against Iran. His military advisors talked him out of it by pointing out it would likely lead to a broader conflict. Iran is rumored to have nuclear missiles and would have responded by attacking Israel.
