Political viewpoints have always been hot topics for debate, especially at election time. This has never been truer than in 2020, where the election played out like a farfetched political thriller. Consider this: Political thrillers usually take a few crumbs of political reality and add a twist of action-packed adventure, mystery, drama, or conspiracies. None of these qualities should exist in real American politics, but haven’t we experienced all of these in 2020? One man is responsible for turning an entire election into a work of pure fiction. Love him or hate him, that man is President Donald J. Trump. Let’s examine the record:
Rather than conceding the results of the 2020 election, as every losing candidate in modern times has done, Trump has made wild and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. He and his team have filed over 30 frivolous lawsuits, all of which have been thrown (laughed) out of court. Expensive (seven-figure) recounts have produced no change in outcome. In Wisconsin, for example, the Trump campaign spent $3,000,000 for a recount that increased Joe Biden’s winning margin.
Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell made outlandish and highly discredited allegations of massive election rigging involving the Dominion Voting System. During an interview, Powell implied that Hillary Clinton used the Dominion software to defeat Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary. Did Hillary abandon this rigged vote strategy when she ran against Trump? Why? Powell is quoted as referring to this as “the single greatest crime in American history.” So, where’s the evidence? Why can’t the Republican-led Senate expose this so-called fraud? Do they fear The Donald? After all, anyone on Trump’s team who rejects his conspiracy theories gets the “Your fired!” treatment from the boss, the latest being Chris Krebs. Will Attorney General William Barr be next?
Does any of this really surprise you? It shouldn’t. Trump has been engaging in conspiratorial lies and smears since entering the political arena. He began his quest for the White House by spreading racist “birther” conspiracy theories about President Obama. If he lost a 2016 primary, he was quite vocal that the vote was “rigged.” When he secured the nomination, he insulted or belittled any Republican who didn’t actively support him. He mocked a special-needs reporter and insulted a gold star family.
As president, he insulted war hero John McCain, referred to our servicemen as ‘losers and suckers,’ called white supremacists ‘fine people’, engaged in racist rhetoric and divisiveness, separated immigrant families, locked kids in cages, built walls rather than bridges, blew up the national debt, increased carbon emissions, cozied up to dictators, failed to improve the nation’s infrastructure, and totally botched the Covid 19 crisis, resulting in almost 300,000 deaths. During his four years in office, staff turnover was at unprecedented levels. Even long-time supporter Chris Christie has called Trump’s conduct a “national embarrassment.”
Donald Trump swore an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. His oath should extend to showing respect for the will of the people and the sanctity of our electoral process. But, don’t get your hopes up—the man has financial and legal troubles and continues to peddle false conspiracy theories to raise needed capital. Frivolous lawsuits will likely be filed up to and after Inauguration Day, even though Trump knows he has no chance of winning a lawsuit or the election.
The story of this election is nearing its conclusion, and what a political thriller it was. History will not be kind to our current president, but America has faced worse and survived. As Joe Biden often says, we must move forward, not as red states or blue states, but as the United States.
When the final chapter of 2020 has been written, we will have demonstrated where the real power of America resides. It is in each one of us and our vote. In 2020, we, the people, made our voices heard. Onward and upward, America!