With Joe Biden the next president-elect, Donald Trump has already signaled he will not go down quietly—will not accept reality. But will his minions continue to carry water for the one-termer? You better believe it.
It’s getting harder and harder to pretend with a straight face that Trump won, but that doesn’t mean his enablers won’t try. Indeed, since Tuesday, Trump has sought to erode trust in the outcome of this election. Anyone who aids and abets this effort should be aware that they are nearing the point where they will cross a bright new line: from supporting a bad president to actively undermining the integrity of our elections and institutions.
Don’t expect this to dissuade anyone. After appearing ready to dump Trump, a Fox News memo obtained by CNN’s Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy reportedly instructs the network’s talent not to refer to Joe Biden as “president-elect,” even after they’ve called the race. (Fox eventually called the race on Saturday morning and noted Biden had the electoral votes to become the “46th president of the United States.”)
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump is telling people he has no plans to concede. As of Thursday, Donald Trump, Jr. is calling for a “total war.” Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs wants Republicans to “surround” Philadelphia, and wonders why Republican leaders “aren't they demanding the Department of Justice step into a political crime.”
Meanwhile, conservative radio host Mark Levin wants Republican state legislatures to overrule the will of their states and choose faithless electors to vote for Trump. Appearing on Fox Business, the co-chair of Lawyers for Trump said she was waiting for the Supreme Court “to step in and do something,” while hoping that “Amy Coney Barrett will come through and pick it up.” Meanwhile, Steve Bannon mused about displaying the heads of FBI Director Christopher Wray and Dr. Anthony Fauci on a pike.
This is dangerous talk. And while these bad actors have long gotten away with it, it’s worth pointing out there are different levels of hell reserved for different levels of behavior. A milder level is reserved for those political hacks who lie and spin during the course of a campaign, based on the assumption that it’s all a game. Just as a defense attorney must vigorously defend a murderer, these pols rationalize defending the indefensible as a mere occupational hazard. Trump’s supporters might have taken this to amazing new lows, but everyone spins.
The next level involves governing. Here, I’m thinking of Republican elected officials who wouldn’t even allow witnesses to testify in Trump’s impeachment trial. Siding with their tribe over their constitutional responsibility was much worse than the kind of “spin” that goes on during a political campaign.
Now, though, we are entering into an even worse category of evil. The campaign is over. The notion that Trump lost because of voter fraud is baseless. And the very survival of democracy demands adherence to, and reverence for, a peaceful transfer of power. Trump’s claims of fraud are entirely baseless, so anyone who continues the fight at this point has taken their “uniform” off. Any hits made after the whistle blows are late hits, which should be treated as such.
So why is this happening? Wouldn’t the most sagacious, if spineless, thing to do be to accept reality and drop Trump like a bad habit? As conservative blogger Allahpundit explains, losing is “an *impossible* reality for a messianic cult to reckon with. We’re not just talking [about] the end of a presidential term here, we’re talking about the end of a quasi-religious myth of invincibility. And so weird things are going to be said, and maybe done, by people around Trump in the days and weeks to come to try to avert that reality.”
At some point—and we’re not there yet—but at some point, the results will be official. At that point, there may still be a “contested election,” but not in any legitimate sense. And then, those who fail to respect the outcome will be more than just hacks. They will be insurrectionists.
For those who love this country—who want to see this great experiment continue—nothing is more important than a defeated president actually leaving office. This should go without saying, but it wasn’t always to be expected.
Just before the election, I received a calendar reminder that it was John Adams’ birthday. I had made the note to remind myself to write a column calling for an Adams memorial in Washington (we really should have one). As a Founding Father, Adams, of course, has much to recommend him, but his most historically important act was probably leaving the White House, thus setting the precedent for respecting election results and a peaceful transfer of power. To be sure, Adams left under the veil of darkness—hardly a gracious act—but he left all the same, and that’s what counts. Just imagine if he hadn’t left... if he had insisted that he really won... if he had called the military to block Thomas Jefferson’s arrival... At some point, for the sake of the country, you concede.
Four years ago, conservative Never Trumpers were called “dead-enders” for trying to stop Trump from claiming the GOP nomination. Some of them later capitulated to Trump. Others joined the resistance. But Trump won the nomination, and we dealt with it. Today, it is the MAGA crowd who appear to be earning the “dead-ender” designation. And my advice to them is simple: Deal with it.
