Name: Republicans sold out democracy to appease Trump's loser tantrum
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Republicans sold out democracy to appease Trump's loser tantrum

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An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile.Redeem nowThe is almost over, no thanks to Republicans.When Emily Murphy released a statement that the General Services Administration would begin the formal transfer-of-power process with President-elect Joe Biden, it put an official end to Trump's fact-free challenge to his election defeat.That challenge, led by a and featuring the QAnon-supporting Sidney Powell who embarrassed Trump (, !) for being , failed spectacularly once "engaging with reality" became a requirement of the proceedings.While there are a few formalities left to handle — official certification of election results, the meeting of the Electoral College — Biden will now get presidential-level security briefings and his transition team can work with the machinery of government. And that's good, because a pandemic is still going on that's killed over a quarter million Americans before winter has even hit. It's the same pandemic Trump insisted was and would magically go away over the summer.And with , the country's COVID-19 response could stand for some stewardship.But it also means the Trump anti-democracy special — the wild press conferences, the "" tweets from advisors, the vicious innuendos that put — all of it vaporized once the president's lawyers had to back up their words in court. Trump's legal team, in the words of the loyal Trumpist Chris Christie, became a "."And while it's all over but the shouting (and because it's Trump, ), Republicans are slowly trickling out and conceding Biden was elected president.But it's too little too late — the damage is done.After weeks of playing footsie with Trump's authoritarian teeth gnashing, the GOP swiftly rushed to recognize the legitimacy of Biden's win after the GSA announced it would begin working with Biden.Within minutes, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana : "President Trump's legal team has not presented evidence of the massive fraud which would have had to be present to overturn the election," adding, "The transition should begin for the sake of the country."Cassidy joined the measly who publicly acknowledged Biden as the rightful victor of the 2020 presidential election before the GSA announcement.Cassidy's turnaround deserves an emphatic eye roll, coming less than a week since he Trump contesting the election to Al Gore's challenge of the 2000 election. Needless to say, and a significantly more legitimate legal challenge.Much like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's milquetoast statement of fact that Trump is "" to exhaust every legal challenge of his election defeat, Cassidy made placating Trump a greater priority than the health and stability of the country.Of course Trump had every right to challenge the election in court. But he didn't have any legitimate reason to, and these Republicans knew it.Rather than stand up and be counted in a basic (and not particularly brave) demonstration of "country over party," most Republican lawmakers failed. But now that the GSA has determined that it's over and Trump will soon be an ex-president, they'll join Cassidy as latecomers saying it's time to move on to the next administration. Their words are meaningless now.Republicans had all the time in the world to stand up and be counted as, at the very least, not a party to an attempted coup. And they mostly failed.And make no mistake, this was an attempted coup.Just because tanks weren't climbing the steps of the Capitol doesn't mean it wasn't an affront to American democracy. Trump tried to thwart the will of the people, indulging in grotesque, nonsensical conspiracy theories about a collaborating with and China to . .Despite presenting no evidence — not even in court — to back up his claims, Trump has convinced millions of his followers that the election was stolen. He has salted the earth for faith in the legitimacy of the vote. And he's obliterated a "norm" that's of particular importance for a functioning democratic country — which is that legitimate election results should be respected and the transfer of power should be routine.Because Trump can't accept that he is, in his own parlance, a "," he's unconscionably assaulted democracy. This isn't the kind of damage that gets undone in four years.Trump's most lasting legacy could end up being the of the as a political force. We'll be forced to parse 4Chan conspiracy theories that filter their way through various YouTube channels and Fox News before ending up in Trumpworld's social-media feeds for a long time.We wouldn't have been asking a lot to expect the leadership of one of the country's only two viable political parties to denounce the president's legal team's incoherent fever dreams of voter fraud.This is when the ostensibly principled GOP that exists independent of Trump needed to stand up and be counted. That wing of the Republican Party, to the extent it exists at all, was pathetically small.Sign up for notifications from Insider! Stay up to date with what you want to know.Subscribe to push notificationsAn icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.Keep readingIt indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.For you

An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile.Redeem nowThe is almost over, no thanks to Republicans.When Emily Murphy released a statement that the General Services Administration would begin the formal transfer-of-power process with President-elect Joe Biden, it put an official end to Trump's fact-free challenge to his election defeat.That challenge, led by a and featuring the QAnon-supporting Sidney Powell who embarrassed Trump (, !) for being , failed spectacularly once "engaging with reality" became a requirement of the proceedings.While there...

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Anthony L. Fisher

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Republicans sold out democracy to appease Trump's loser tantrum

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