Donald Trump Ends His Term in Defeat and Denial

The administration of Donald Trump, who views himself as the owner of success and as an undisputed winner, ends in failure. Most of the population opted for the restoration of traditional politics.

It was clear that it would not end well, but few could foresee such a pathetic finale. The magnate, who showed himself as the absolute owner of success, ended his term in failure and defeat.

The fact that his administration did not end well does not come as a surprise if we consider how impulsive and lacking in brilliance Donald Trump is. No one was surprised when government officials revealed anonymously that they worked to prevent the execution of many of Trump’s decisions, since they were terrible ideas born out of impulse and negligence that could only lead to disaster. Many in the White House worked to protect Trump from Trump himself.

He may have been the outsider who taught party politics a lesson, but his impulses got in the way and were mixed with racism and irresponsibility. His became a whimsical and egocentric administration. The result? Most of the population ended up opting for the restoration of traditional politics, giving power back to professional politicians (in spite of their lack of transparency), to escape the state of constant distress created by Trump.

His pompadour and his artificial tan are as notorious as his cultural and human limitations. Such a disastrous ending was to be expected. Trump believes that there is only success and failure, and labels people as either winners or losers. In the end, he lost and his reaction only augmented his defeat.

A barely honest and grounded interpretation of the situation would have shown that the right thing to do was to accept defeat. But, unable to do so, Trump took a dishonorable stance that would not help him at all.

There was always something hideous about his arrogance. He is the stereotypical self-centered magnate that names ships, planes and skyscrapers after himself. But, this time, it is hard to believe the size of his ego. It is like the tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” but it is not only a child who tells the emperor he is naked, but also the voters, the judges (to whom he appealed claiming a massive fraud), the media and, finally, his Republican peers.

This pathetic finale was foreshadowed months before the election when, in view of the polls that predicted his defeat, Trump started talking about a conspiracy to commit fraud against him.

More than 7 million votes behind Joe Biden, Trump’s bet was to win, not at the ballot box, but in court.

Trump, Rudy Giuliani and an army of lawyers dove into ballot boxes, trying to turn the situation in their favor. But Trump managed only to magnify his defeat and lose what was left of his political honor. This was furthered by shameless suggestions, such as the removal of mail-in ballots received and vote recounts in states where Trump was winning, but the trend was unfavorable; meanwhile, he demanded that the process continue in the states where he was losing, but the trend was favorable.

Trump claimed fraud in the courts of the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin. In all of them, the judges dismissed his claims due to lack of evidence. So he went to the Supreme Court, believing that it would be on his side, given the recent appointment of ultraconservative Amy Coney Barrett (who took the place of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg). Again, his claims were regarded as absurd.

At this point, his conspiracy theory had only managed to magnify his defeat: He lost at the voting booths, in the Electoral College and in the courts in which he attempted to invalidate Biden’s victory.

The president, repeating over and over again that there had been a fraud, was already a pathetic sight. In the history of the United States, no other president has exhibited such levels of denial. Not even when Biden’s victory was made official by the Electoral College could Trump force himself to do the honorable and ethical thing: Accept defeat and congratulate the winner.

Advised by a small group, more and more resembling a sect of lunatics, Trump thinks that Jan. 6 will be his last chance to destroy the election and remain in power. Those who told him that the day on which both chambers of Congress would meet to accept or dismiss the decision of the Electoral College would be his last chance to win were probably thinking of the 1876 election. That was the most controversial American election in history. Samuel Tilden had won — with both the vote of the people and the Electoral College — but Congress considered the claims of Rutherford Hayes and declared him president instead.

But this is different. That time, there had been a large and verifiable fraud: In many states, the ballots of the Democratic candidate were printed with the symbol of the Republican Party, so many voters were tricked into voting in Tilden’s favor.

In the current situation, however, nothing justifies a decision like the one taken by Congress back in the 19th century. On Jan. 6, Trump will find only defeat and a new record for political scandal.

It is impossible to hide his failure. He could not be reelected in a country where the policy is that presidents serve only two consecutive terms. And his defeat is huge: He did not lose against a charismatic phenomenon like the young Bill Clinton (who defeated George H.W. Bush); his administration did not face cataclysmic situations, such as the occupation of the American embassy in Tehran or the Mariel boatlift that wore down Jimmy Carter; and he did not have to work with a ruined party, as did Gerald Ford after Watergate.

Just as all heads of state in world, Trump had to deal with the pandemic. And this is a scenario that highlights a ruler’s capability or incapability.

Naturally, the situation exposed the greatness of Trump’s limitations. And after his defeat, he embraced denial and fired those who admitted Republican defeat and congratulated Biden. An unsightly performance that, nonetheless, had the approval of millions of Americans.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Russia had carried out a massive cyber attack. It is not the first time for something like this to happen, but this time their objective was different: Russia’s previous cyber attack had the aim of undermining Hillary Clinton’s campaign — and helping Trump win the 2016 election.