Study the media carefully. Slowly. Inexorably. Inevitably. Trump is being given the “lame duck” or “loser” treatment.
The attention his Twitter rants receive in the media is receding day by day as time passes and January 20 grows closer. That is what really bothers Mr. Audience of One.
The Trump Show has been cancelled. The expiration date is in 59 days. Good riddance.
Excerpted from Wall Street Journal 11.22.2020
WASHINGTON—A defiant President Trump continued efforts to contest the outcome of the election, as his legal options narrowed and a number of Republicans expressed frustration with his refusal to acknowledge defeat.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Mr. Trump’s efforts to pressure state legislators in Michigan to overturn the election results were “completely outrageous.”
“We’re beginning to look like we’re a banana republic,” Mr. Hogan said. “It’s time for them to stop the nonsense.”
Despite pressure to concede, Mr. Trump’s team over the weekend sought fresh avenues to reverse his loss to President-elect Joe Biden. They pledged to appeal a federal ruling in Pennsylvania that dismissed one of their lawsuits and filed a recount petition in Georgia after the election results were certified with Mr. Biden the winner.
The president continued to allege election fraud in a series of tweets on Saturday and Sunday—no evidence of widespread fraud has emerged—but his campaign faced dwindling options to contest the outcome of the Nov. 3 election. Michigan is scheduled to certify its results Monday, which is also the deadline for Pennsylvania counties to do so.
Many members of the president’s political party have supported his attempts to contest the results in court since Mr. Biden was declared the winner. The General Services Administration also hasn’t issued a typically routine technical designation that would allow the president-elect and his team to access key resources.
But while no representatives from the president’s campaign or legal team appeared on the Sunday talk shows to discuss their strategy, some Republicans took to the airwaves to signal that it was now time for the fight to end.
“The voters spoke,” said Rep. Fred Upton (R., Mich.) on “Inside Politics” on CNN. “In Michigan, it’s not a razor-thin margin, it’s 154,000 votes. You’ve got to let those votes stand.” He added: “It’s over.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on ABC that he was a supporter of the president, but “elections have consequences and we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that didn’t happen.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) added in a written statement issued late Sunday: “It is time to begin the full and formal transition process.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) said on Twitter that Mr. Biden should get intelligence briefings. And Sen. Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.) argued on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he supported letting the legal process play out, though he also said it was acceptable to allow the transition process to begin.
“I informed my staff well over a week ago they have to cooperate with any transition outreach,” he said. “We want to be prepared.”
Lee's Perspective 