Trumpian Intransigence

United States: President Donald J Trump, on Tuesday, 3 November 2020, was defeated by Democrat challenger former Vice President Joe Biden.

"Why are mail-in ballots all for the other guy?" UK's Have I Got News For You? panel show tweets, "wonders man who demanded supporters didn’t use them:"

“Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be?” Trump tweeted on Sunday, 8 November 2020. “We have all learned a lot in the last two weeks!”

Trump, remembering how the media called the 2016 Presidential Election for him, seems to have a very short memory. Further, noting how Trump uses "Lamestream Media," the outgoing president fails to recognise tossing around childish insults will not win him any favours.

Eugene Gu, MD, CoolQuit.com founder and CEO, used his Twitter account to remind the losing president "even Fox News and Benjamin Netanyahu know that Joe Biden is President-elect of the United States."

Despite Biden being recognised by several world leaders as the president-elect, noting Trump's Twitter feed, the losing Republican president has yet to formally concede the election.

Many of Trump's recent tweets, a significant number of which could be considered misleading, have seen the social media platform tag them with "This claim about election fraud is disputed."

Twitter, displeasing the outgoing president, has blocked several of the tweets Trump put out with "Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about how to participate in an election or another civic process."

The frequency Trump's tweets have included a Fox News televised clip has increased significantly during the past few days. The more Trump tweets, recognising his erratic behaviour, the more unstable he appears.

Trump is mainly posting tweets featuring people supporting his intransigence. Republican United States Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have both expressed their thoughts in Fox News televised interviews.

"We are hearing lots of allegations a dead person voted," Cruz said during his Fox News interview, "we heard a report from one county in Michigan where the election software mistakenly counted 6,000 that were cast for Donald Trump - it switched to Joe Biden..."

The only evidence of a dead person being involved in the recent election revolves around Republican David Andahl. Andahl, even though he died from Covid-19 in October, won his election to the North Dakota state legislature on Tuesday.

This scenario is reminiscent of the fictional Horton Wilde, in The West Wing fourth season episode Election Night, winning his California seat after his death.

"What we need in the presidential race is to make sure every legal vote is counted, every recount is completed, and every legal challenge should be heard," McCarthy said. "Then and only then that America will decide who won the race."

Biden, unlike Trump has the respect of the international community. Congratulatory tweets sent to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris by world leaders, inclusive of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern , must have caught Trump's attention.

"Congratulations, @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris ," Trudeau tweeted. "Our two countries are close friends, partners, and allies. We share a relationship that’s unique on the world stage. I’m really looking forward to working together and building on that with you both."

Ardern , reflecting her Canadian counterpart's posting, tweeted a similarly toned congratulatory tweet.

Congratulations President-elect @JoeBiden & @KamalaHarris on your victory in the US Presidential election. With so many issues facing the international community, your message of unity is one we share. New Zealand looks forward to working with you both!

A press release put out by The Official Website of the new Zealand Government, recognising a possible sting in the tail for Trump, references the congratulations offered to Biden by the country's prime minister:

“The relationship between our two countries is strong, and I look forward to developing even closer relations with the incoming Biden Administration,” Jacinda Ardern said.

“As Vice President, Joe Biden was a close friend of New Zealand and visited here in 2016, the most senior US politician to do so since President Bill Clinton attended APEC in 1999.

“New Zealand will continue to work side-by-side with the United States on the issues that matter to both of us, including the prosperity, security, and sustainability in the Indo-Pacific and Pacific Island regions.

“The campaign by the President-elect has also shown the shared interests we have in addressing global challenges like Covid-19 and climate change.

“There are many challenges in front of the international community right now, the message of unity from Joe Biden positions us well to take those challenges on.”

The Prime Minister also acknowledged outgoing President Donald Trump.

Is there any possibility Trump will take the hint and leave the White House quietly?