North Texas Daily

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy signed a letter of ascertainment to formally begin the transition process for President-elect Joe Biden, 17 days after he was declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election. President Trump took to Twitter to say that he allowed Murphy to begin the transition process despite ongoing legal battles to overturn the election. Even though Trump told Fox News he has resigned to leave the White House on Jan. 20, it’s clear he kept through on his promise to not give a peaceful transfer of power.

This transition is without a doubt the messiest transfer of power witnessed in modern history. Trump has yet to concede and has mentioned he has no intention to despite a defeat that grows more prominent each passing day. The president’s legal team has filed a number of lawsuits that have either been tossed out or ruled against. A recent recount in Wisconsin saw a widening in the margin of Biden’s victory over Trump with a net gain of 87 votes.

Trump’s personal lawyer and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been the most vocal member of Trump’s legal team, saying there has been an overwhelming amount of proof of voter fraud.

As Giuliani stated, “We’ve got a lot of evidence. We don’t have a lot of time.” Unfortunately for Giuliani, that proverbial window of time is nonexistent at this point.

Trump’s lawyers aren’t even making claims of mass fraud in court, according to Time. Instead, they are questioning the use of scanning machines used to verify signatures and if observers were able to have proper access to vote counting. Ironically enough, the president is undermining the legitimacy of states Biden won and is surprisingly quiet about states he himself carried such as North Carolina and Arizona.

This is not the result of someone who thinks he still has a chance to win, but a way to spite the incoming administration and make his loyal supporters view Biden as an illegitimate president when he is sworn in. None of the legal battles come as a shock to me. I knew going into this election that regardless of the result, it would be divisive on both sides as it proved to be in 2016. It was frequently hailed by the media as the most important election in our lifetime and voter turnout served to reflect that.

I remember watching debates and knowing that if Biden and Kamala Harris won, it wouldn’t be a smooth transition. When Vice President Mike Pence was asked during the Vice-Presidential debate if there would be a smooth transition of power if the president lost, Pence negated the question by saying he felt as if he and the president were going to win the election. During his debate with Biden, Trump was asked if he would accept the results of the election and he said he would if they were all legal votes with no possibility of voter fraud.

The scare tactics Trump has attempted on Democrat voters and anti-Trump conservatives are growing increasingly ineffective. As he continually faces pressure from fellow Republican leaders to accept the loss so he can mount a possible 2024 run, Trump cannot let things go. He was a sore winner who brought Hillary Clinton’s name every chance he could during this election. He was always going to go out as a sore loser if he lost this election because he just cannot accept defeat.

It’s still up in the air as to whether or not Trump will run again in 2024. Despite his desire to make life for Biden as hard as possible before going into office, many Republican voters said they would vote for Trump if he ran again. I don’t like him as a president or even as a person, but the former reality TV star is a polarizing figure in the Republican party. It’s clear if he did run again, people like Sen. Ted Cruz or even Pence won’t stand a chance against him in the primaries. He would be the shoo-in candidate, but who knows if Trump is willing for another chance at possible defeat if he does. Until Biden is well into his presidency, it’s just a waiting game for all of us.

Featured Illustration by Olivia Varnell