Donald Trump's been a sad, little whiny baby ever since losing the election he should've always lost because he's terrible. CNN reports that he feels “dejected" because a majority of American voters “rejected" him. That happened in 2016, as well, but at least he still got to be president. This time even the Electoral College failed him and not just democracy.
Trump has hidden from the public like a cowardly loser all week, tweeting lies about voter fraud while his bargain-basement lawyers pitifully attempt to overturn the election. I imagine Trump unshaven, dressed only in a robe, wandering around the Oval Office and weeping, like Steve Martin in The Jerk .
Trump is so busy with his ceremonial airing of grievances — he has a personal vendetta right now against Fox News — that he can't even pretend to president. Neither Trump nor his aides have lied to the press recently and he's shown zero concern for the escalating coronavirus crisis — although, zero is an improvement from his previous negative level of interest.
Fortunately, America has just elected a new president, Joe Biden, who once again demonstrated how real presidents who are functioning adults behave. Thursday, six Americans were killed and one American was injured in a helicopter crash in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Biden responded like a commander in chief who's also a human being.
I extend my deep condolences to the loved ones of the peacekeepers, including 6 American service members, who died… https: //t.co/h5ZF41fR9C
— Joe Biden (@Joe Biden) 1605208800.0
This is a sharp contrast from President Lame Duck's Twitter rants Thursday.
@realDonaldTrump @FoxNews Are you aware you are still president until January 20 and there is a pandemic raging out… https: //t.co/DKlhw0WzWf
— Victoria Brownworth #CONCEDE (@Victoria Brownworth #CONCEDE) 1605213563.0
Trump also retweeted a clip of Jack Nicklaus at the Masters tournament. It's like he's already quit. Sources inside the White House claim that Trump is attacking our democratic systems and traditions because he believes the 72 million fascism enablers who voted for him deserve a “fight." This isn't a fight. It's a scream-until-you're-blue temper tantrum.
David Nakamura at the Washington Post wrote that Trump is “leveraging the power of his office in a long-shot bid to stay in the job while ignoring many of the public duties that come with it." I'd argue that this is how Trump governed the past four years, before Biden whooped his ass at the ballot box.
"It seems clear Trump has checked out," said Norman Ornstein, a political scientist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute who has criticized Trump. "It's not like this guy has shown a great interest in governing for four years, so to expect he will now accelerate the pace is a little fanciful. It's pretty clear he feels wounded. Under those circumstances, the idea he's going to pay more attention to the details of governance is ridiculous."
The White House insists Trump is still on top of the job he's desperately clinging to like a life raft from prosecution as a private citizen. Why, he's picked more fights with China, a country he hates. He's acknowledged that a tropical storm has struck Florida, where he owns property. He also recognized the 245th anniversary of those “suckers" and “losers" in the Marines.
As David Frum noted, Trump is behaving like a malignant narcissist who's been cut off from his supply of adoration and approval. It's not a pretty sight.
This gradual disintegration is the narcissist's futile effort both to escape his predicament - and to sublimate his aggressive urges. His whole behaviour seems constrained, artificial, and effortful. The narcissist gradually turns more and more mechanical, detached, and "unreal". His thoughts constantly wander or become obsessive and repetitive, his speech may falter, he appears to be far away, in a world of his narcissistic fantasies, where Narcissistic Supply is aplenty.
He withdraws from his painful existence, where others fail to appreciate his greatness, special skills and talents, potential, or achievements. The narcissist thus ceases to bestow himself upon a cruel universe, punishing it for its shortcomings, its inability to realize how unique he is.
Trump will likely further isolate himself, a "hermit in the kingdom of his hurt." He'll stay out of public view and communicate to the outside world through Twitter and his shameless surrogates. For the next 68 days, America must endure a president who wants the country to feel the same pain he does. This is hardly a “peaceful" or even mature transfer of power, but no matter how bitterly Trump protests, that power will transfer to its rightful owner.
[ Washington Post ]
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Victoria Brownworth is fabulous.
Sorry to be mean but: in Canada the new government takes over roughly one week later. 😬
Hell torture for Trump: he has to live out the death of each American with Covid who died. First he lives one death. A brief pause. Then suddenly he’s the next Covid patient dying. 90% of the deaths take a week.