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“Lame Duck” is the name given to a politician in the United States who considers himself incapable of acting after losing an election. It is obvious that Donald Trump does not want to resign himself to this role. What else can he do?
By Katrin Brand, ARD Studio Washington
November 2016: Nearly four years ago, Barack Obama and Donald Trump met to discuss change in the White House. Trump has repeatedly asserted in the election campaign that Obama was not born in the United States and therefore was not a legitimate president. An infamous lie, a smear campaign. Obama stands up. Obama said at the time that his top priority is to allow a transition in the next two months that will ensure the success of the president-elect.
In 2020, such a meeting did not take place even a week after the elections. And there are many signs that President Trump doesn’t even want his successor Joe Biden to succeed. First, Trump is preventing the transition from even beginning by failing to acknowledge Biden’s victory. And then now he has two and a half months to use his presidential power to make decisions that could harm Biden and benefit him.
Who’s next on the layoff list?
For Norman Ornstein, a political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, the removal of Defense Secretary Mark Esper was just a preview of what is to come: “I have no doubt that scorched earth awaits us. This will affect the people who face the pandemic and supposedly they weren’t loyal to the president. As well as various people from the secret service world, “Ornstein said in an online interview.
Dr. Anthony Fauci could be one of them, the virologist Trump considers too influential. Also, FBI chief Christopher Wray and CIA chief Gina Haspel, who have also contradicted Trump. All of this creates chaos, and that might be the point.
Trump is also likely to make extensive use of a right that he loves anyway: to forgive people who, in his opinion, have been treated unfairly. He saved Roger Stone, his old confidant, from jail. Two other convicted advisers, Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, are now eligible. And Trump is very likely to forgive his own family, employees and members of his administration, says political scientist Ornstein, even before they are tried. You could also try to forgive yourself. However, it is unclear whether this will stand up in court.
Create humor as a soul flatterer
And then Trump could bet on presidential decrees that are difficult to remove. Even before the election, it allowed roads to be built and trees cut down in Alaska’s protected Tongass National Forest. Even if Biden succeeds in repealing this regulation, the damage in this ancient rainforest cannot be repaired.
And after all, Trump can still do what he is so good at: the mood. Moving around the country, collecting money and being celebrated, that could give Trump the confirmation he has been missing since the election. And it would make Biden’s reconciliation job even more difficult.
If Biden is frustrated and concerned, he is not showing it right now. “Mr. President, I look forward to speaking with you,” he told Trump on television yesterday.
