As of this morning, Joe Biden's lead over Donald Trump in the election returns stands at 5.5 million votes, a 3.7% margin of victory. That margin closely resembles the Obama victory of 2012.
Although virtually all of Trump's court challenges to these results have failed, and his challenge in Pennsylvania appears doomed, the outgoing president still insists that the election was "RIGGED." The president is simply maintaining a counter-narrative for his followers to cling to, and around which he can promote his next endeavor (whether a media project or another run at the presidency).
Meanwhile, the worsening Covid pandemic seems to cry out for leadership, but the president seems to lack interest in anything now but promoting his narrative. The only truly "presidential" behavior we're seeing is coming from the President Elect, Joe Biden.
President Trump's legal maneuvering continues to fall flat. He's withdrawn claims in Arisona and in Pennsylvania. It seems that the thin reed to which MAGA-land is clinging grows thinner by the day. There will come a point, when the court cases have all failed and the elections have been certified in each and every state, when it will be no use pretending any longer.
I don't expect Trump to actually concede at that point (and it doesn't matter anyway), but I expect him to set up as the leader of a the MAGA-Resistance, a kind of president-in-exile. There will be rallies to hold, merchandise to sell, and a myth to propound endlessly. One can go a long way and even make a lot of cash in today's America by riding the myth of victimhood. Here, strangely, the Left and Right converge.
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Read also:
The Evangelical Reckoning Begins
The Cultural Consequences of Very, Very Republican Christianity
Odds (by Alan Jacobs)
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