As we approach January 20th 2021, Biden has been more adamant about his COVID-19 reliefs and plans as the 46th president. However, Trump still isn't believing that he lost the 2020 election. He has been demanding a major defense bill, yet some Republican supporters have been ignoring those demands and instead chosen to create new drafts that disregard his polite requests. David Marchick, an American attorney, said (quoted from the Washington Post), "The country looks to the new, but the old is still in office until January 20th." His statement, while true, doesn't seem to apply to President-elect Joe Biden. Across his many platforms, Biden has been exhorting Americans to follow safety protocols. This includes proper social distancing guidelines and the use of face masks. He has even been announcing his Cabinet members. While the power will soon transfer to Biden, it hasn't nonetheless. Trump is still eager to take charge and withdraw troops from overseas, as well as fire government officials.
While Biden has been spreading COVID-19 relief and safety protocols on his social media, Trump has been using Twitter to lash out about an election he has lost. Interesting enough, recent tweets from the user @realDonaldTrump have included retweets of his own posts, specifically one captioned, "SO TRUE. NO WAY WE LOST THIS ELECTION!" from December 6th. Similar claims have also been made by Trump during his first major public appearance since the election, such as "You know we won Georgia, just so you understand," when in fact he did not, and lost by 12,000 votes. Some have called his outcrys "classic Act V behavior" and "part tragedy, part farce, full of sound and fury," mimicking a Shakespearean play.
What else will Trump do within these next 44 days? Only time (and the media) will tell.
12 comments:
In your blog post, you mentioned that Biden is spreading COVID-19 awareness (how to stop the spread, guidelines, etc.). I think that President-elect Biden is using his platform correctly - people that are famous tend to forget that their actions are seen by so many people, and are mimicked by so many people as well. In general, I believe that certain people (not very many) with such large platforms should have "restrictions" on what they are allowed to post and share, because a lot of the time, the spread of such misinformation can be extremely detrimental. I also really like the connection of our President's behavior to a Shakespearean play. I had always thought that his actions and words were... unrealistic and fictional - turns out others think so too!
I think that at this point Trump is just trying to create as much chaos as he can in the time before the inauguration. He has already pardoned Micheal Flynn who was arrested and charged in 2017 for lying to the FBI about his ties to Russia during the investigation into Russian modeling in the 2016 election. This pardon is clearly an unnecessary action that Trump is using to shift attention from the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a lot of time left for Trump to continue to pardon past members of his administration and continue to ignore the pandemic which is reaching some of the highest death rates on record. But for now, all we can do is wait and hope that as January 20th arrives Biden will act quickly, hopefully slowing down the numbers and returning the US to a functioning democracy.
I agree with Ella that at this point he is trying to create as much chaos as possible. His pre-emptive pardon of his kids also signifies in some sense that he know he'll be out of power soon. As president he has platform that he can use to warn people about the dangers of covid because even though he got the first class treatment as president, other people will not. However people that follow him and follow his word for word may not realize that and expect that if he got okay they will too. If he can encourage his supporters and followers to wear masks and if that saves just one life that is more than worth it. I agree with Varsha there that people with huge platforms should be sharing correct information because so many people follow and mimic them and restrict people from sharing misinformation. Remember when Trump said we should inject bleach? Well some did mimic his words (https://www.businessinsider.com/kansas-man-consumes-cleaner-trump-disinfectants-cure-coronavirus-2020-4) which goes to show the importance of using such a large platform responsibly.
I agree with Ella that President Donald Trump is creating unnecessary chaos, but his actions probably have reason related to his possible run in 2024. Keeping up the ante keeps his voter base engaged, especially with less rallies as he’s no longer campaigning (although he did have a Georgia one recently).
Recently, Trump’s Department of Justice scheduled five executions before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, breaking a long-standing norm for the lame-duck period (a 132 year norm). Now, of course, Trump’s administration has broken many long-standing norms, but this stands out, because Trump’s DOJ authorized 13 federal executions in six months. 2020 would have the most in a year since 1896.
Trump has also been griping with the GOP in many instances, most recently, the National Defense Authorization Act, which he threatened veto for (the House passed it 335-78 this past afternoon -- Trump’s GOP loyalty base is beginning to dwindle, I guess). Trump threatened veto over section 230, which had to do with internet company liability over content posted to their platform, not being repealed, but the act also included provisions regarding his border wall funds and a section that would require the military to rename bases named after figures from the Confederacy. Who knows what Trump’s true reasoning for vetoing would be (I assume Twitter would delete more of his tweets if they were responsible for the misinformation he spreads).
Trump is rash and unthoughtful most of the time, and I doubt he’ll do much to limit his actions in the coming weeks.
As Trump continues to act out, his attempt to create chaos has grown more see-through as everyone is calling him out for his absurd claims to remain in office. As inauguration day continues, the future of the office remains unknown, as Trumps lawsuits and scandals continue to threaten the peaceful transition of power. While the Trump administration desperately tries to hold onto the past, trying to catch the Democrats in their crossfire allegations, the incoming Biden administration is aiming to diverge far away from Trump, in order to set a clear agenda without unnecessary infiltrators. While many are rightfully conflicted as to whether or not Biden should simply move on as quick as possible, or still consider pursuing the investigations into the abuses of power by the Trump administration, the message of unity and strength remains clear.
Rep. Dean Phillips, a Minnesota Democrat, voices such a worry; "My gravest concern is about the unity of our country and I recognize the challenge between the principle of law and accountability with increasing division ... With that said, people have to be held accountable, but I will say this right now: The stimulus is a perfect example of what is more important."
Phillips highlights another key implication of the COVID-19 pandemic, where sometimes financial necessity and overall well-being must take priority over political agendas or legislative policies. While Biden has still not formally stated his desire to continue looking into Trump's past, it is clear the the health and safety of Americans who have been struggling for so long must take precedent.
Another day another political dispute surrounding Trump. Seeing how polarized America seems to be, it isn't surprising that part of America isn't yet ready to relinquish Trump's administration. He embodied everything new and held strong opinions on issues that needed to be tackled. What I think he is trying to accomplish with these outlandish behaviors is to leave a mark on the American people. If his misinformation and disinformation campaign can fool enough people in America, he will leave a lasting impression and be immortalized as a winner. This is evident in his early calls for victory against Biden, his vehement denial of defeat in the election, and many more instances. At this point, to compare his daily outbursts to fictitious Shakespearean plays is quite fitting.
I think Trump's clear spiral in his last days of office is a clear marker that he knows something bad is going to happen when he leaves office. He and his supporters believe that Joe Biden is going to ruin America, but it's actually quite possible that Trump will be prosecuted by the state of New York for various crimes including tax evasions as soon as he leaves office. Even though he can pardon his children and associates like Rudy Giulliani, an indicator of some wrongdoing, he can't pardon himself and it's possible Trump will face justice soon. His last-minute attempts to make drastic changes while in office remind me of the Midnight Appointments we learned about in APUSH. Trump actually already mimicked that by nominating Amy Comey Barrett to the Supreme Court right before the election, even though Justice Ginsberg didn't want her seat to be replaced until he was out of office.
I agree with the point that Ella made. Trump has caused unnecessary chaos ever since the election. I think that Biden is doing a good deed for the country in trying his absolute best to spread awareness about the necessity of wearing a mask in order to overcome the huge toll that the pandemic has put on the country. I believe that Trump is just trying to be as destructive as possible to make Biden's life harder, especially once he takes over. The fact that Trump has tried to push for pre-emptive pardons for his family as a form of protection once he officially leaves office does show that he has finally started to come to terms with the outcome of the election, yet he still tries to spread false information on his social media platforms. I'm curious and almost fearful to see what Trump will do once Biden officially becomes the next President.
Trump is continuing to act in a way that draws a response– both from his supporters who side with him, and those who do not who continue to point out his falsity. At this point, it is pretty clear that Trump has absolutely no intentions of doing anything regarding the coronavirus, but it is hopeful that Biden is already working hard to spread awareness, create plans, and taken action. But it is clear that Trump is willing to go to extremes and dysfunctional ways like refusing to admit defeat, and pardoning those working with him. At this point, I think looking ahead to Biden's presidency is crucial because I don't think anything beneficial will come out of Trump's remaining time. His actions are simply creating chaos and outrage, especially in priming his supporters in being upset and uncooperative in the soon-coming transfer of power to Biden. In a way, although he refuses to explicitly admit loss, his previous and persisting actions often say, that deep down he knows, otherwise.
Just like the above, it does really seem like Trump is searching for anything to maintain relevance as he leaves office. There's not much Trump can get done in a month, and I think he's well aware of it. Additionally, it's proving how weak the unitary executive theory is in retrospect, as most of Trump's administration appears to have lost steam and stopped carrying out a lot of Trump's orders in response to his rage. As such I'm definitely not as concerned as some about his lashing out towards the end of his term, as it seems like he didn't have as much power over execution in his administration as one would expect from the President. It's a lot more comforting to know that we will get a much more mature (for lack of a better word) president in office in a couple weeks despite that - long-term we have a long way to go as a country to rebound from the chaos of the Trump administration.
Once again, Trump's actions are extremely childish and unprofessional. It's truly sad to think that this is who we have running our country; someone who refuses to look at data and numbers. It seems as if he's laid off on his duties after the election though so I would be surprised to see any big changes coming at us during this final month. This is slightly disappointing in a sense because there are still a lot of important things that Trump could be dedicating time and energy to, such as the pandemic, but at the same time, I would probably be a bit more worried if he suddenly jumped into action and started trying to complete a bunch of things before he left office. I'm glad to see that Biden has already stepped in and is preparing for the transition. I'm hoping that Biden will jump in and start doing some good for the country, and as demonstrated by his diverse and highly qualified staff picks, I think it's safe to assume that he already has some good plans set in place.
Honestly at this point, no one is taking Trump seriously and he is just trying to draw as much attention as he can because he will not accept the fact that he lost the election. Instead of being a responsible adult, Trump is trying to create chaos and is disregarding the fact that the coronavirus is still killing thousands of Americans everyday. Instead of using his last days as president in a positive way, he is just throwing fits and is doing nothing to help our country. With Biden as our new president, I hope he will take his job more seriously and help prevent the spread of coronavirus. It is great to see that the pandemic is already Biden’s top priority and that he is encouraging people to wear a mask, and I hope he will be able to control this situation better than Trump.
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