He’s the cause of his own loss

This year is more chaotic, damaging and confusing than any year I have lived through so far. There’s been an election, a pandemic, the death of millions of Americans and Trump doesn’t seem to care whether or not he’s stirring the pot.

This year Trump is, in a way, getting the same pandemic experience as the rest of America, getting COVID-19 and losing his job. Very rarely does an incumbent president get unseated without serving a second term. Only ten have not served a second time. 

So what did it? What cost him this year’s election? Mail in ballots. Republicans are typically older, white evangelical Americans. This year Trump ultimately hurt himself with his mishandling of the pandemic, as the coronavirus mostly affects the elderly. He also was failing to attract new voters because he wasted precious time trying to decide how to combat COVID-19. Like millennials who already struggle in today’s economies.

It goes deeper than that. He isolated his own supporters by telling them not to vote by mail-in ballots. Not only did he put a roadblock between older Republicans and the voting booth by undermining the legitimacy of a mailed ballot, this also gave Biden an advantage because all of his supporters were able to vote however they please wherever they please.  This is why we saw such a turn around from the evening of Nov 3rd. 

Republicans are more likely to vote in-person and Democrats more likely to vote by mail-in ballots. Election Day counted all of the in person votes which is why Trump preemptively called 2020 a Republican win.

However he failed to consider that the remaining votes were the mail-in ballots. Slowly his lead crumbled as he lost Georgia and Arizona turned blue, key states he needed to win. Ultimately he lost because of his own choices. He mishandled the pandemic and urged his voters to vote in-person, which was a stupid choice considering that most of his supporters are elderly. In contrast Biden urged people to vote and vote early. 

Now we are at a point where Republicans are having to accept a loss. Even though most states have called and finished counting their votes Trump is still screaming voter fraud. He’s filed lawsuits and called for recounts in a variety of states. None of the lawsuits have actually changed the results and all it’s really done is undermining democracy and the America process. 

He needs to learn to let go of power. There is nothing to gain from a frivolous and childish struggle to hold on to power. He should be making the most of his last month in power. Instead, he is just continuing to prove how unfit he is. 

If Trump was a true leader he would have recognized that his stint in power had come to an end. America has spoken; she decided this year she was blue. Trump should have respected the process, respected the groundwork the founders layed for us. Instead, he chose to undermine the democratic process. He lost, so he decided he would scream voter fraud. So many stories, supposed videos, dismissed cases. Hardly any evidence.

By doing this he is failing to step down gracefully and with dignity. He is making a fool of himself, a fool of our democracy. This undermines not only the process but also our reputation among other nations. If America is to be a light of freedom and democracy to other nations, what does it say about us if we undermine our democracy?