Trump not ready to conceed defeat to Biden!

 'Like passing the baton in a race'

America’s longest presidential tantrum shows no sign of abating.

At one point on Sunday, President Donald Trump appeared to admit for the first time that he lost to Joe Biden in the election that took place 13 days ago. But he soon followed up with a tweet barrage insisting he was conceding nothing. Trump’s behavior is increasingly absurd, weakening American democracy and ripping even greater chasms in a divided nation.

But like everything else about his presidency, it’s all about him. 

There are plenty of theories for what is driving Trump’s denial. It could just be a fragile ego that can’t bear the reality of his defeat. He might be trying to keep his supporters revved up in the false belief that the election was stolen in order to build a foundation for a 2024 campaign. The former reality show host could be priming a fanbase for future business endeavors. And there’s a good chance he simply wants to screw up the country for the next president. 

All of the above explanations are consistent with the President’s character. But like the coronavirus, the facts of the election remain impervious to his alternative realities. On the final electoral map, Biden has 306 electoral votes, way past the magic 270 mark needed to win the presidency and identical to the tally Trump boasted was a “landslide” four years ago. The President’s lawsuits have failed to live up to his claims of coordinated nationwide fraud, and are going nowhere in the courts. In the coming days, states will begin certifying their fair election results, closing off any legal avenue for a comeback.

The most likely scenario from here is that Trump leaves office in January in a tacit admission of reality -- but refuses to ever publicly accept his loss. His departure will therefore become a sad but utterly predictable metaphor for his presidency, which insulted truth from its first hours to its last.