Mohamed Eltayeb
Why is Trump hesitant on leaving office? What truth is he afraid of facing?
Despite losing the election, Trump’s power in the country remains stronger than ever. Yet, Trump’s objection to concede is setting a dangerous precedent that could continue to ignite his base and, more importantly, leave this country divided.
Donald Trump has lost the election. Let’s first be clear of that. While China is the latest country to offer a belated congratulates to President-elect Joe Biden, Trump is continuing to tweet out he won the election. As much as I would love to see Trump being escorted out of office come inauguration day, Trump’s objection to concede is setting a dangerous precedent that could continue to ignite his base and, more importantly, leave this country divided.
Trumpland
It’s been a week since Biden won the election, yet there has been a growing rumor that Trump will not concede the loss and continue to call the election a fraud. However, it should come as no surprise that Trump is reacting the way he is. Months before the election, Trump was already hinting at the fact that he will not concede if he loses the election and that he is already suspicions that it was going to be a fraudulent election.
“We’re going to have to see what happens” he told a reporter during a news conference at the White House. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”
“Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation,”
–Trump September 23rd 2020
Despite the impeachment, despite the Muller investigation, despite the tax concerns, despite the sexual allegations, despite his comments on the military, despite the economic decay, and despite the handling of the pandemic, Trump still sold to 72,626,112 voters. Not only is that evidence that Trump still has a resilient fanbase, but it’s also proof that despite losing the election, he still won a majority of Americans. According to The New York Times 2020 Exit Polls, 55% of white women voted for Trump. I won’t get to how disheartening that number is; I’ll leave it to you. Nonetheless, the exit polls illustrated the power Trump has in this country; no matter what he has done, he will continue to get support.
Fear of prosecution
Trump fears leaving the White House; the sun doesn’t shine better on the other side; that side is the real world. Trump is in debt, and not your average debt, more like a billion dollars of debt. Forbes has reported that Trump is at least $1 billion in debt, “Lots of people believe the president owes $400 million…in reality, however, he owes more than $1 billion. The loans are spread out over more than a dozen different assets—hotels, buildings, mansions and golf courses.” Leaving office would mean that Trump is now legally bound to face his debt and isn’t protected from the consequences. Not only is Trump facing debt, but severe investigations into his family’s finances. Both the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and New York Attorney General Letitia James have launched investigations into Trump’s financial records. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is investigating Trump for possible tax fraud and falsification of business records. New York Attorney General Letitia James’s investigation is concentrated on whether the Trump Organization and family manipulated valuations to secure funding or engineer tax benefits (Bloomberg).
Prison time?
Trump leaving office leaves him vulnerable to prosecution for several crimes; however, the likeness that Trump ends up in the jail cell he clearly deserves; is a dream many progressives, including myself, have to continue to imagine. No former U.S. president has ever seen the inside of a cell, which is owed to the corrupt system America currently embodies. It’s still unclear how harsh the law will be on Trump; the Biden administration has not yet commented on whether or not they plan on conducting charges on Trump, but don’t expect them to. Trump is still friendly with the Republican party, despite him obviously losing the election. Republican senators and officials have continued to support the idea that America’s election could have fraudulent results. As the American people face the second wave of coronavirus and job loss is imminent, Trump has abandoned the country in the hope of stealing the election and save himself.
To contact Mohamed Eltayeb. you can reach out to him via e-mail (therealeltayeb@gmail.com) or Twitter!
I like the perspective. I also like how you left room for the audience to think for themselves. Good work.