Donald Trump’s presidency is coming to an end. The President spoke from the White House Press room this evening to rail against ‘fake polls, which he called suppression polls’ and’ claimed that all the votes going against him are ‘illegal’.
Speaking in a defeated and monotonous tone, a tired Trump took to the White House lectern repeatedly claiming (without evidence) that ballots being counted were ‘illegal’ and that he is preparing to bring more litigation, despite a number of lawsuits that his campaign brought being rejected by the courts.
This is against a backdrop of Georgia and Pennsylvania counting all outstanding ballots, with the results going heavily against Trump; it will be close, but it is likely that Biden will take Pennsylvania and possibly Georgia, taking him beyond the 270 needed to win.
Trump repeated many of the phrases that his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, had ranted about during a bizarre press conference yesterday, in which he stated that he would bring evidence of unfair and illegal practice in counting. This evidence is yet to be provided.
In his speech, Trump continually called for it to be a ‘fair’ result, suggesting that in his eyes, the only result that could be fair is one in which he wins, repeating a line used by his campaign staff throughout the election: “in a free and fair election, Trump will win”.
By taking to the lectern, Donald Trump has perhaps indicated that the numbers his campaign team have access to suggest he is going to be defeated. The speech was a desperate attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the election in the face of defeat.
This draws a stark contrast to the last incumbent president who was defeated. George H. W. Bush congratulated Bill Clinton and looked forward to the best for America. Instead, Trump is showing his worst instincts and was branded as pathetic by, many commentators following his speech.
He also claimed that the Republicans have not lost a single seat in the house and have retained the Senate, which suggests he believes that the results in those elections are legitimate, but only the ones going against him are illegitimate.
Trump’s son, Donald Jr, has been inciting violence on Twitter, talking about going to ‘war’. This comes after shops across the country boarded up due to the fear that violence might erupt following the election result. As yet there have been few reports of violence, but there are many reports of armed protesters turning up outside of counting halls to intimidate those who are counting the final votes in swing states.
Donald Jr has also been criticising Republican Party officials and prominent politicians for not backing his dad, suggesting that the White House is divided from the rest of the Republican Party and that the party accepts the result, even if the president doesn’t.
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Many Republicans outside of the White House have been distancing themselves from Trump, with former ambassador to the UN, under President Trump, Nikki Haley, stated that the integrity of the election was more important than Trump.
Lindsay Graham and Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, have also refused to back the president, with the world lining up against Trump and showing that they believe the integrity of American democracy is far more important than one man.
The Trump administration is falling apart in real-time; American democracy is prevailing.
