Will There be a Successful Transition of Power in January?

By Shiann Davis

The results of the presidential election had us all on edge with recounts in states with close margins. After watching all the heated debates between candidates Biden and Trump, determining who will be the next candidate nominated as the presidential elect of the U.S., we now know that Democrat Joe Biden will become the 46th President of the United States on January 20th, 2020, when he will be sworn into office. Biden, along with Kamala Harris, have made it their duty to execute plans for a COVID-19 vaccine and to tackle other concerning issues, on their first day in office. However, Trump has not accepted his defeat and he is making the process much more difficult than it should be. Biden and Harris cannot make their plans become a reality unless Trump accepts his defeat along with the rest of the Republicans who currently hold seats in the House of Representatives.

Trump has falsely stated information that is untrue, saying that he won the election and all the votes have been counted. According to an article written by Alexandra Villarreal from The Guardian, “Trump may never concede that he legitimately lost the 2020 election and the US presidency.” Due to Trump’s large fan base and admirers, he may feel as if he is entitled to just about anything, including falsely stating that he won an election that he has evidently lost. It is not Trump, nor Biden’s duty to state the calling of the race and declare a winner, especially if the votes were still being counted in several states, including flipped states such as Nevada, in which we were all waiting on in anticipation. In a Tweet, Trump states, “I had such a big lead in all of these states late into election night, only to see the leads miraculously disappear as the days went by. Perhaps these leads will return as our legal proceedings move forward!”  The election results show that, Trump in fact, led in several states, but it was not enough for him to win. His recent accusations and lawsuits challenging illegitimate votes for Biden and “disappearing” electoral votes on his end have been dismissed.  In an article by Pete Williams on NBC.com, Judge Matthew Brannn states, “this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state.”

There is no proof of corruption in the election, and Trump bringing forth accusations of illegitimate voting insults the rights of every American by attempting to dismiss their voices and votes from being counted.  Trump has some time left before he must let up and leave the White House in January. He cannot barricade himself in the office simply because the race has been called on behalf of Biden winning both the electoral and popular vote. Whoopie Goldberg from “The View” stated that Trump must suck it up and accept the defeat, and force himself to concede to the presidential elect, Biden.

In terms of the question if there will be a peaceful transition into office in January, there will have to be, whether Trump wants to leave or not. It will not matter if he continues to state that he will forever be the president of the U.S. That statement will then become invalid and null. He will eventually have to concede, despite the number of protests that his followers have proposed after the presidential election. It doesn’t matter how many lawsuits he files against the election, nor how many Trump supporters protest the election results. Trump will not be holding power, until the next election day four years after Biden has served his time if he decides to run again.

Knowing that Trump has a strong fanbase, he will still be relevant and mentioned for years to come, despite his loss. Trump may use the power of the presidency to push for more conservative court appointments, another tax cut or environmental deregulations, measures to “remind Republicans of why a lot of Republicans voted for him”, says Zelizer from The Guardian, “even as he exits the White House. Although he lost re-election, he still won more than 70m votes, and he could wield significant authority over his base for years to come.”