Trump and Biden move along but in different ways

There are many words that can describe what is happening in the United States in the aftermath of the November 3 elections: bizarre, nutty, scary and cheap, to mention a few. The 46th President of the United States has been formally announced but the 45th maintains that he has won the election and refuses to concede; worse, he is not only planning to hold up the entire transition process but also giving the impression that he is on a rampage by dismissing senior cabinet officials and putting the fear of God in like-minded Republicans who simply do not have the guts to stand up to the Man. Not only have some family  members defiantly stood beside behind Donald J Trump, one of his sons—Eric Trump—has asked American people to go out and cast their votes for his father, one full week after the elections have come to a close. Things can’t get nuttier!

Donald Trump is still working overtime, not in coming up with policy prescriptions to deal with a debilitating pandemic that in its third spike is taking a toll of at least 1000 lives a day. He is busy with his twitter handle spewing venom and poison; berating Pfizer for announcing five days after elections that a vaccine is about 90 per cent ready; and dismissing Mark Esper, Secretary of Defence and replacing him with a close ally who really does not know how long his job will last. Esper’s days were counted ever since he disagreed with the President’s loud thinking of sending the armed forces to quell civil unrest in the streets of America in the wake of racial tensions.

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And it is now believed that the Heads of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are on the chopping block; neither of them would be bothered as much the rest of America should be for the simple reason that institutions that protect the country are being endangered by the whims and fancies of one man. And all of this is taking place just within two months-plus of a change in guard. The sad beauty in all this is that by and large the Republican Party has not murmured publicly even if expressing disgust privately perhaps. The reason is not too hard to fathom: the run-off Senate polls in Georgia for two seats in January 2021; electoral chances of 2022 and a frightening notion that Trump may come back and seek the nomination of the Grand Old Party in the Presidential polls of 2024. If the last scenario were to take place some Republicans would want to appeal to the hard core base of President Trump and the leftovers of Trumpism, however one defines that.

Trump is staying on his belligerent track and seems confident of having won the election of November 3 thrown out in the courts. Thus far every sane opinion has taken the position that nothing by way of an electoral fraud has taken place and that clerical errors that have since been rectified are being passed off as widespread fraudulent activity. In fact one or two courts have tossed the law suits brought forth by Republicans and the perception by and large is that nothing is going to stand even if it goes all the way to the Supreme Court. The top Republican official in the State of Georgia who is in charge of the elections process has publicly said that nothing out of the ordinary has taken place in voting—a view that has enraged the White House and the Trump campaign. In fact lawyers in the firms co-opted by the Trump campaign are apparently feeling uneasy about the unraveling situation and have openly expressed their dissatisfaction about representing some fictitious claims that undermine American democracy. And the fact that many Fox News anchors, The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal have moved away from Trump is undoubtedly annoying the President a great deal. It is quite stunning that even Rupert Murdoch’s message is getting nowhere with Trump.

With some 290 electoral college votes and having been declared the person to enter the White House—which could get as much as 306– Joseph Biden is going about in a calm and cool headed fashion, quite reminiscent of the fashion in which the former President George W Bush Jr. went about his business at his ranch in Crawford, Texas during the legal showdown after November 7, 2000 election. Denied of transition funds, office space and intelligence briefing, Biden is threatening to go to courts to force the issue; but is being counseled against this idea for fear of any adverse ruling. By and large the Democrats are convinced that a closure to this Presidential election will come only after the courts have ruled against Trump, after which he will have no cards to play other than rant and rave about the judiciary as well.

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By and large Americans—Republicans included—seem to be baffled at the goings on. More than 70 per cent in a post poll said that Biden was the next President with only 13 per cent siding with Trump on his fancy thinking. Many world leaders have come out and congratulated the incoming leader; the notable exceptions being China and Russia and for their own good reasons. The Russian perception of Trump is well known and Beijing is apprehensive of a Biden President even if Trump had characterized the President-elect and his running mate as a stooge of China; and a pair that will sell America to that communist giant. In the closing stages of the November 3 election, Trump’s National Security Advisor maintained that what was going on with the Uighurs in China could amount to a genocide, a pretty strong characterisation; and Beijing has every reason to be worried and uneasy that a Biden administration would not only have a shrill rhetoric on the Uighurs but also add the plight of Tibetans.

The courts will have the last word; but America and the world can also be sure of one more thing: barring any sudden last minute change of heart, Trump is unlikely to concede this election and will refuse to stay with customs, conventions and protocols. That is the man whom everyone knows including Biden. But as the clock strikes Noon on January 20, 2021, Americans are looking for a change of the Guard; not a change of heart.

(The writer is a former senior journalist in Washington DC covering North America and the United Nations)

(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not reflect the views of The Federal)