On Monday, Joe Biden was announced as the next US president as his win over Donald Trump was formalized by the Electoral College, all but closing the door to the incumbent’s attempts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election.
When Biden called on Americans to “turn the page” on the contentious contest, voters met to secure his victory across all US states, with California driving Biden over 270 votes and paving the way for him to take office on January 20th.
But with his desire to snatch the spotlight still intact, Trump revealed moments later that Attorney General Bill Barr would leave his post next week, contradicting the outgoing president’s allegations that the November 3 elections were marred by fraud.
Trump tweeted, “Our relationship was a very good one,” making no mention of their divergence. “Bill will be leaving to spend the holidays with his family just before Christmas.”
Although a senior administration official said that Barr resigned and was not forced out by his own agreement, the unusual convergence of events exposed the strains underlying the final weeks in office of Trump’s “lame duck.”
The 200-plus-year-old Electoral College method is merely a formality to affirm the will of the people expressed at the polls, but considering the turbulence of last month’s election and Trump’s inability to accept his own loss, the process took on added significance.
As the presiding officer read out the count of 55 in favor of Biden and none opposed, confirming Barack Obama’s former vice president as the 46th president of the nation, the California voters burst into applause.
“Prevailed democracy. We the people have voted… Our election’s credibility remains intact,’ Biden said in excerpts from a speech he was scheduled to give later Monday in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
Now it is time,” Biden said to turn the page, to unite, to heal. “For all Americans, I’ll be president.”
The very arcane process of the Electoral College this year was at the core of an ugly and dangerous alarm challenge led by Trump against the integrity of US democracy.
Soundly beaten by Biden on November 3, Trump continues to say that he was the real winner, without proof.
Court after the court dismissed the allegations of electoral fraud by the Republican team and last Friday the US Supreme Court issued a final legal blow when it tossed out an appeal lodged by Texas and other Republican-led states’ Trump allies.
Disinformation
Confirmation of the Formal Electoral College drew another line under the presidency, which saw Biden make Trump a rare one-term president after running on a message of resolving the pandemic of Covid-19, repairing political discord, and restoring conventional US diplomacy.
Until now, a number of Congressional Republicans have either supported or at least turned a blind eye to Trump’s arguments, with many declining to name Biden the President-elect.
Disinformation led by the president and disseminated by prominent Fox News pundits and modern conspiracy theory-mongering outlets such as Newsmax suggests that many Americans have all but given up confidence in their own institutions.
Thousands of Trump supporters, including members of far-right organizations, marched over the weekend in Washington, battling with counter-protesters, while Georgia videos showed armed demonstrators parading in camouflage at the State Capitol to support Trump’s claims.
Polls indicate that the referendum results are supported by as few as one in four Republican voters.
On Twitter Monday, Trump continued his stream of threats and unsubstantiated allegations, citing “massive VOTER FRAUD” and declaring that it would be a severely punishable crime” to certify election results.
However, the valid Electoral College vote has now left almost no room left for the Trump train to go.
A big formality remains ahead of Biden’s inauguration, when Congress, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, opens on January 6 and counts the electoral votes.
In the latest sign of a changing tide, The Wall Street Journal’s staunchly Trump-supporting editorial board told Trump that his time is up.
“President Trump’s legal challenges have run their course, and by recognizing the outcome and moving on, he and the rest of the Republican Party can help the country and themselves,” it said.
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