As the path to a second term continues to narrow for Donald Trump, and key battleground states swing towards Joe Biden, the internet is having a hell of a time dunking on the current POTUS. When it comes to Don, you don’t even need to try that hard – one need only scroll back a little bit through his Twitter feed to find a hypocritical or wildly contradictory statement, and oh boy, do we have that today.
Back in late 2016, Trump tweeted out a quote that he attributed to Vladimir Putin, relating to allegations of Russian interference in that year’s election. “In my opinion, it’s humiliating,” Putin said, chastising Hilary Clinton and the Democratic party. “One must be able to lose with dignity.”
“So true!” added Donald.
A lot can change in four years, it seems.
Vladimir Putin said today about Hillary and Dems: “In my opinion, it is humiliating. One must be able to lose with dignity.” So true!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2016
As of today, the count for the 2020 election is ongoing, but Joe Biden has 254 of the required 270 Electoral College votes to win, while Trump has 214. Biden is ahead in key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona, and while the election is not a done deal, analysts predict he is on the “cusp” of the presidency.
Trump, who prematurely declared victory on election day and then saw his lead slip as postal votes came in, appears unprepared for the possibility that he may soon have to vacate the White House. In fact, there are reports he has told his inner circle that he has no plans to concede, even if his path to victory in the election ends up being blocked.
CNN claims that the President has not prepared a concession speech. Instead, he has spent the past several days accusing his Democratic rivals of trying to steal and rig the election, despite being able to provide no factual basis for these claims. Sources say he is in “fighting mode”, and is preparing to mount a lengthy court battle to drag out the result, should the numbers come out in his opponent’s favour.
His endgame appears to be for the Supreme Court to determine the outcome of the election in his favour, but he could have difficulty getting there in the first place. Judges in Georgia and Michigan have dismissed campaign lawsuits in recent days, and the only victory so far has been in Pennsylvania, where an appellate judge granted campaign workers greater access to election workers counting mail-in ballots.
When asked about the possibility of Trump refusing to concede, Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates told reporters: “As we said on July 19, the American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”
