November 11, 2020 ☼ trump ☼ election-2020
Source: The Washington Post - Link
The legitimacy crisis many feared is starting to become real. President-elect Joe Biden claimed victory after it became mathematically clear over the weekend. Myriad world leaders tweeted their congratulations, and Biden spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others, in phone calls Tuesday. My colleagues are busy reporting on what the Biden presidency may look like, both at home and abroad. The frenetic scramble for jobs in the next administration is already underway.
But President Trump still rejects the outcome, invoking baseless allegations of fraud while pressing ahead with legal challenges that most experts say will go nowhere. His administration has refused to initiate the formal process of transition, leaving open the possibility of procedural havoc in the weeks ahead. Attorney General William P. Barr took the unusual step of authorizing federal prosecutors to investigate election irregularities before vote counting had been completed. It was an overtly political move that led to the head of the Justice Department’s elections crime branch resigning in protest.
Democracy is now in peril.