It may have taken major media organizations four days after the election before they made their call, but it had been certain since the early morning hours following the election that Joe Biden was going to become the next president. Even that prolonged waiting period seemed to come with a recognition that, when AP and the networks finally called it, Donald Trump was going to throw an epic tantrum. And so they delayed … and delayed … long after the outcome was immediately obvious to the most casual observer.
Then, of course, Trump did move into his big nuh uh phase, with congressional Republicans gathering round to guard his snowflake-y feelings. Plus they sent a team of the nation’s greatest hack attorneys on a quest: a quest to lose more cases in less time than any group in history. And they did it. They so, so did it. The votes are counted. The court cases are over. Donald Trump has been more coddled than the most delicate egg. Now every day that passes isn’t being measured in silly lawsuits or ridiculous tweets. It’s costing lives. And Biden is done with worrying about Trump’s thin orange skin.
On Monday, Biden spelled out how the failure of the Trump White House to engage with its transition team is having a serious impact on their ability to prepare for handling the greatest crisis facing the nation: the COVID-19 pandemic that is costing over 1,000 lives a day. As The Washington Post reports, Biden insisted that Trump’s ongoing egopalypse places the nation at extended and unnecessary risk. “More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” said Biden. He warned of a “very dark winter” with a cost to be paid both in lives and in economic impact from Trump’s refusal to share information, or take any action.
Meanwhile Trump … went golfing again. As one does when really concerned about the fate of the nation.
Multiple members of Trump’s team have already demonstrated that they understand he has lost, and that Biden will be president in January. The problem is that they’re making those announcements quietly, off the record, rather than confronting Trump. Instead, Trump is continuing to make baseless claims about “millions” of illegal votes, and continuing to state—not just without evidence, but in contradiction to plain facts—that he “won” the election.
It seems certain at this point that Trump isn’t actually expecting to hold on to power, but is campaigning for the role of king in exile; a role that he can use to punctuate his never-ending golf game by waddling slowly up a ramp to declare “I was wronged!” while his adoring audience screams about how strong he is, and begs for someone, anyone, to be locked up. Which is absolutely a fine occupation for Trump while he waits for an inevitable indictment by the New York attorney general.
The problem is that Trump isn’t just using the sickly orange sunset of his time in office to create the confusion and extra layers of lies necessary to his once-and-future mythology. He’s also using this time to kick America in the … let’s say “gut.” Trump is going out not just with an effort to decrease faith in fundamental institutions, but with a refusal to carry out the most basic, most defining action that has shaped the nation: the peaceful transition of power.
He’s doing so at a time when the nation has not just a pandemic, not just a recession, but also a time when Trump has savagely weakened alliances, destabilized whole regions, and given opponents every possible signal that America is in no position to take coherent action. If Russia were to make a concerted push into the remainder of Ukraine at this moment, America would … If China were to take this moment to claim an expanded region of the South China Sea, the response would be … If North Korea … If Iran … Trump is making it exceptionally clear that at this moment, the nation has no coherent leadership. He’s not interested in anything other than pushing lies and riding around in his little cart.
Biden is pushing ahead with plans. That includes planning for the idea that Trump may never cooperate in sharing information on the pandemic, or national security, or any other area of vital concern. He’s naming staff members, assembling a team, and arranging briefings from experts who have not been cowed by Trump.
But Biden is also done pretending that this is normal. Or that Trump’s actions don’t come with a cost.
For Trump’s part, he’ll just allow those additional lives to go on the tab with more than a quarter million others. Why not? Donald Trump never plans to pay his bills.