Trump shows no grace

Edward Kim, Staff Writer|December 16, 2020

After Joe Biden’s resounding 306-to-232 electoral victory in the 2020 presidential election, soon-to-be-former President Trump responded to his loss in the most childish–yet also expected–way: refusing to concede. Not only is his refusal to admit his loss foolish, it’s also causing  problems for America.

Trump has gone to great lengths to delegitimize the results of the election, the most prominent of which are his lawsuits he has filed in  key battleground states. His legal team was to search for ballot “fraud,” as Trump stated that there was no way Biden won without cheating. 

However, even with the full force of  his legal team, Trump has been unable to gain ground in any state. According to the Washington Post, “Trump’s legal team has lost repeatedly in court and failed to uncover the kind of widespread fraud that might challenge Biden’s leads in several key battleground states.”

This proves that no matter how much money Trump throws at a case, no matter how smart his lawyers are, he simply cannot buy himself a victory in the election. His lawyers will always have to tell the truth before a judge or risk losing their licenses, so it’s quite telling when none actually claim fraud in court while making a case for supposed voter fraud.

Even as he fights the results of the election, President Trump must realize that his refusal to at least begin the transition of power will leave a dramatic impact on America down the road. This may not seem like a big deal, but presidential transitions are extremely important and allow future presidents to prepare for the immense load that they have to carry for the next four years. 

 By neglecting the transition of power, Trump is not only being unsophisticated and disrespectful, but may also be running his potential for a future political career into the ground in the process, as he loses the respect of even some of his most staunch supporters like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Even if thwarting Biden is supposed to be Trump’s “last hurrah” as president, it certainly is an immature and ridiculous way to go. If he had accepted his loss, he could have at least kept some shred of dignity in the public eye. 

Fortunately, Trump has recently given up on trying to twist the election’s results to his favor, and he seems to have at least accepted that Biden will be the 46th president. After the administrator of the General Services Administration, Emily W. Murphy, pushed a decision for a presidential transition, Trump finally agreed. In his tweet, he stated that this was simply for “the best interest of our country”.

Aside from Trump’s most die-hard supporters, it seems that many have accepted Biden’s presidency. World leaders have already contacted Biden to congratulate him, including  France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, and Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen. Trump’s own wife, Melania has also said that Trump should simply accept his loss. 

Even Xi Jinping, the president of China,  who has had an up-and-down  relationship with Trump, congratulated Biden on his victory. The CEO of Boeing, David Calhoun, who yielded great benefits from connections with Trump, has also accepted the election results. Currently, it seems that everyone has accepted reality without a hitch, while Trump falls behind and out of the public eye.

Trump’s actions during the four years of his presidency will obviously leave many marks on our nation, both good and bad. Unfortunately, even after his reign as president comes to an end, Trump will likely continue to wield immense political influence through his supporters, who are some of the most diehard, loyal followers in American history.