The usual threads on the Facebook pages of The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, or known libby-leaning outlets like CNN and HuffPo became bereft of the neo-con vitriol we were accustomed to seeing before the election. An exodus from Facebook over to alt-right social networks like MeWe, Parler, Gab, and Telegram was an interesting phenom. Many were also bailing from Fox News over to conspiracy-based networks like OAN and Newsmax, per the directive of the soon-to-be ex-prez.
I honestly never wanted to embrace cult tags for That Guy’s supporters. I still don’t. Yet there we were, and here we are. He said jump, they said how high, and that’s still what’s happening in 2024, even with a recent guilty verdict in his hush money trial. It’s interesting that loyalty seems to extend only insofar as his fans don’t have to sacrifice too much…like their way of life, their homes, their lives. There doesn’t seem to be a rabid loyalty among That Guy’s people warranting Jim Jones, Kool-Aid level fealty. I’m not certain they’d choose to die before disavowing him, barring a handful of mentally ill extremists. MAGA seems to be more cultural in nature than philosophic or even political.
*Editor’s Note: Here, at that time in late November of 2020, the author said point blank:
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens when That Guy does finally accept defeat, if he does at all, though that’s trending unlikely considering he seems to have chosen the path of the least gracious transition of power in American history.”
**Editor’s Note: Ah, it was a bit more than interesting, author dude. As you, and the world, would soon come to discover.
We showed the world stage we had embraced That Guy’s nationalist isolationism as a misguided pretense of patriotism, crafted from disinformation and xenophobia. Backing him resulted in a loss of global power and respect, a regression of American influence in international commerce, and pointless, half-measure withdrawals from the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the World Health Organization. The world looked upon us with alternating forms of pity and disgust.
In a virtual speech delivered to the G-20 that week, That Guy claimed the Paris climate change accords weren’t designed to save the planet, but rather they were crafted to destroy America itself by ruining our economy. The world leaders on the Zoom call, according to most reports, were unfazed and more or less ignored him, or made fun of him via private messages to each other off screen.
I’m not certain which was worse, world leaders dismissing the narcissist as a triviality, or laughing at him behind his back, much like they did in 2018 when he bragged about American greatness at the general assembly.
There was some good news that week, though. After Michigan finally certified their electoral votes in favor of Biden, Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration in Washington D.C. formally designated President-elect Biden as the winner of the election. That overdue announcement released federal funds and resources to begin the transition from one executive office to the next, it authorized Biden’s team to begin directing communication with That Guy’s administration officials, and it allowed for Biden to become part of daily intelligence briefings and the pending coordination of Covid vaccine distribution plans.
That Guy at least privately admitted to himself that it was over by then. His tweet on the Monday just before Thanksgiving 2020, was the most explicit action to date that he had indeed accepted his tenure was one and done (this, of course, turned out to be little more than a hopeful conceit):
“Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”
That was as good of a concession speech as we were gonna get. The mind titillated with who was the final straw in convincing him to do the right presidential thing. Ivanka? Rudy? Pompeo? Don Junior? RNC chairs who told him they’d make sure to steer their donors to back him financially in keeping a party presence in post-presidential life? TV execs promising him a new platform? Random supporters vowing future vengeance down the line? Did it really matter? Did we give one rat’s ass who or what pulled the narcissist back into reality, or rather, pushed him into a new reality?
It doesn’t matter much how it happened…only that it did indeed happen.
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
If only that had been the end of it.
*Compiled from November 25, 2020