It’s been four days since the major TV networks called the presidential race for Joe Biden, and as the votes slowly roll in, his lead only widens.
He’s currently up by over 5 million votes and leads the electoral college by 62. He’s already passed the 270-vote winning threshold by nine electoral votes.
But it appears as though President Trump has no plans to concede. It’s not a legal necessary for the loser of a presidential race to do so, but it’s the respectful thing to do and will help to heal the country after a bitter election.
“The simple fact is this election is far from over,” Trump said in a statement just after the election was called.
Instead, Trump is insisting the election was stolen from him, although there is no proof that any voter fraud has taken place.
President-elect Joe Biden was asked about Trump’s inability to come to grips with reality and he was careful with his words.
“I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly,” Biden said. “The only thing that — how can I say this tactfully — I think it will not help the president’s legacy.”
He also addressed Trump supporters who are dealing with the loss.
“I understand the sense of loss, I get that,” he continued. “I think they understand that we have to come together.”
Given Trump’s tempestuous personality many believe he will never concede.
“Do not expect him to concede,” one top aide told NBC News. More likely, the aide said, “he’ll say something like, ‘We can’t trust the results, but I’m not contesting them.’”
His former attorney Michael Cohen believes Trump won’t even be at the White House to attend the inauguration.
“After Christmas, he usually comes back January 5th, January 6th. He likes to go to Mar-a-Lago,” said Cohen. “I suspect he doesn’t even come back to Washington. I don’t believe he’s going to go to the inauguration because he himself fundamentally cannot sit in a chair knowing that the cameras are on him and that the world is looking at him as a loser. He cannot do that.”
It’s believed that Trump has a psychological aversion to being called a “loser” that prevents him from admitting defeat.
“Presidents are rarely denied when they pursue a second term — it has happened four times in the last 100 years — which means Trump cannot escape the label he hates most of all: loser,” Michael D’Antonio, the author of the book “Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success,” wrote.
“Losers are, in Trump’s view, undeserving of respect, admiration, and affection,” D’Antonio continues.
Trump may also be trying everything in his arsenal to reverse the inevitable because he faces litigation when he leaves office. In New York, Donald Trump faces criminal investigations at the state and county levels where investigators have been delving into his business practices.
Meanwhile, the incoming Biden administration is moving forward, whether the current president is on board or not.
This week, Biden spoke with leaders from some of America’s closest allies, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“I’m letting them know that America is back. We’re going to be back in the game,” Biden said.
