Trump rebukes Biden for picking a Cabinet
Pathetically, it’s news that Trump was pushed into admitting that at some point he will have to get out.
Donald Trump has said that he will leave the White House in January if the electoral college votes for Democratic president-elect Joe Biden, in the closest the outgoing president has come to conceding defeat.
Which is not very close, because he said it in reply to a very narrow question, and he instantly qualified it and undercut it with more shouting about fake votes blah blah blah.
Speaking to reporters on the Thanksgiving holiday, Trump said if Biden – who is due to be sworn in on 20 January – was certified the election winner by the electoral college, he would depart the White House.
Not exactly. He started by saying: “This election was a fraud.” He then elaborated on the fact that Biden won states that Trump won in 2016, as if that were somehow impossible and an obvious indicator of fraud. “So, no, I can’t say that at all,” he earnestly admits. In other words he says no I can’t say that I will admit Biden won.
Then he throws the “Don’t talk to me that way” tantrum, then he calls on a different reporter who asks the same question all over again – “So, if the electoral college does elect President-elect Joe Biden, are you not going to leave this building?” Seeing as how he had just said that – “So, no, I can’t say that at all.” This time he rears back, throwing up tiny hands, and says “Just so you – certainly I will. And you know that,” he adds, with the “come on” tilt of the head. So Trump. He says he won’t, he pitches a fit at the reporter who presses for confirmation, he calls on a different reporter, he says certainly he will and rebukes her for pretending she doesn’t know that.
Trump’s administration has already given the green light for a formal transition to get underway. But Trump took issue with Biden moving forward.
“I think it’s not right that he’s trying to pick a Cabinet,” Trump said, even though officials from both teams are already working together to get Biden’s team up to speed.
But he’s totally going to leave and we all know that and it’s just rude and rebellious of us to pretend we don’t.
Whether or not Trump leaves of his own accord on the 20th or, if my prediction of a couple of weeks ago is correct*, a day-or-two earlier so he won’t have to suffer the perceived humiliation of having to formally hand over to Biden, I can certainly imaging a lot of his supporters – maybe even more than turned out for his own inauguration – attempting to block the routes to the White House in an attempt to prevent Biden’s motorcade from getting through. Even if they don’t attempt or don’t succeed in this, it’s not implausible that they’d put on a show of hostility enough that Biden will be unable to safely walk the last stretch as I believe is traditional for incoming presidents (G.W.B. broke with this tradition, I think, not from fears of personal safety but because he didn’t want to face the peaceful protestors lining the route).
Whatever happens, I can’t see things running smoothly on the 20th, and only hope that they don’t get too far out of control.
* my call about Trump and his goons messing Biden’s transition team around was spot-on, so I’m going for two-for-two to complete my transition to infallible prophet.
I think that probably won’t be possible, even for them.
Lots of us were on edge for the Obamas that day, but…they did it.
One thing that must gall Trump immensely. When you see Trump and Biden side by side, it’s obvious Biden is so much more in line with central casting ideas of presidents (except Bubba presidents, when they would definitely reach for the Trump model).