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The president of the United States wants to continue fighting against his defeat, but now he wants to start the process of “transition” “in the interest of the country”, the last events of the night.
For more than two weeks, Donald Trump had refused to admit defeat to Joe Biden. Now he’s given up, in his own way, but at least.
Photo: Evan Vucci (Keystone)
His opponents spoke of an unprecedented maneuver, an attack on the elections, an attempted coup. For more than two weeks, Donald Trump had refused to admit his defeat to Joe Biden, for more than two weeks he had blocked the change of power in the White House. But now Trump has given up, in his own way, but at least. On Monday night, the president tweeted that he had instructed his team “in the interest of the country” to begin the handover process. Emily Murphy, head of the competent authority of the federal administration, should “do whatever it takes.”
That was it, the moment when Trump publicly signaled that he could no longer delay the inevitable. The moment he seemed to accept reality: Joe Biden will be the new president as of January 20.
Shortly before, Emily Murphy had sent a letter to Biden on behalf of the General Services Administration (GSA) formally recognizing him as the winner of the presidential election. This step of authority is necessary for the Biden team to receive federal funds, but above all access to documents and offices, and to be able to contact employees of the current administration to prepare for a smooth transition. Usually this would have happened a long time ago, and Murphy, who was appointed to his job by Trump, had come under great pressure from Democrats to clear the way for the handover.
For both opponents and supporters, one thing is clear: the matter is over
So now the “transition” has begun, and for the first time made visible by three small letters: The website that Biden’s transition team created now runs on the domain ending .gov, which is reserved for the government. from USA
Trump did not admit he lost the election in his Monday night tweets, quite the contrary. He announced that he would keep fighting: “I think we will win!” Then he added: Just because the GSA can cooperate with Democrats does not mean that it does not cease its complaints against the “most corrupt election in American history.”
But in Washington, both his opponents and many of his supporters seemed to agree that the matter was over. “That is probably closer to what President Trump could have admitted,” said Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate.
Indeed, after the events of the past few days, Trump was left with few options. He has practically exhausted his legal options after his lawyers have presented no evidence of widespread voter fraud in any court. And Trump’s attempt to postpone the official certification of the results in the states has so far been unsuccessful.
The president suffered the biggest setback in this matter in Michigan, where the responsible electoral commission confirmed Monday that Biden had won the state by 155,000 votes. This step would be a formality in almost every election year. This time, however, Trump and his allies pressured the two Republican members of the commission to vote against certification, or at least to postpone it.
The president hoped to reverse the outcome: Without a certified result, at least on paper, there would have been the possibility that Michigan’s Republican-dominated parliament would step in and declare Trump the winner in the disputed make-believe state. However, this maneuver failed with the vote of the electoral commission. In addition to the two Democrats on the panel, a Republican also voted to have the votes certified. The other Republican abstained. “Democracy won,” said Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Democratic Secretary of the Interior.
Trump also suffered another setback in Pennsylvania, the largest swing state. There, his lawyers had failed in court with a lawsuit demanding that the certification be postponed. On Monday, most districts also certified the results, making Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania as good as it was official. In the state of Georgia, which was also won by Biden, the result was certified over the weekend after a recount of all votes.
More and more Republicans are venturing out of coverage
So it’s not surprising that more and more Republicans are venturing out of coverage that had previously been silent for weeks. Four other senators from the party spoke Monday asking Trump to acknowledge the election result. “I voted for President Trump, but Joe Biden won,” tweeted Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. That is clear after the certification of the results in Michigan. Trump’s lawyers have not presented any evidence of massive fraud that was necessary to change the election. “In the interest of the country, the transfer of power should start now.”
Other Republicans also appealed to the president. He hopes Trump will now put the welfare of the country first and allow a swift and orderly handover to help the “new government,” said Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. “When you’re in public life, people remember the last thing you did.”
And then there were Trump’s allies in the media. Few have defended the president in the past four years like Laura Ingraham, one of the star anchors of the conservative television channel Fox News. But on Monday night, Ingraham gave a new note on his broadcast. She widely praised Trump for his successes, used harsh words against Biden, but then said he was not going to lie: “If the legal situation doesn’t change in a dramatic and improbable way, Joe Biden will do so on January 20. inaugurated at the position “.
