The transition of power between current President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden is underway, even with Trump planning what he calls a big lawsuit alleging wrongdoing in the general election earlier this month.
On Monday night, almost three weeks after polls closed, the General Services Administration finally declared Biden the apparent winner, triggering official coordination between the Trump and Biden administrations as well as millions of dollars in funding for Biden’s team.
Biden’s victory will likely be disputed by conservatives for quite some time, but Emporia State political science professor Michael Smith says Republicans proved the process worked as it was supposed to.
Part of Trump’s unwillingness to concede, Smith says, may be simply because Trump couldn’t believe he lost. Part of the distrust that has come about the past three weeks, according to Smith, is many conservatives view Trump more as a savior than as a regular political figure, so to them it’s impossible Trump lost a fair election. He’s concerned about a possible repeat down the road, especially after Trump apparently asked Republican lawmakers in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to “flip” electors so the electoral vote would turn in his favor. He also believes the ongoing work to sow distrust in the voting process, whether by President Trump or others, has dented the trust Americans have in legitimacy or so-called “soft power.”
The transition delay may have some benefit to the Biden team, especially by instilling a sense of relief and normality as the election season finally comes to a close. However, Smith says distrust of the election system may not go away anytime soon, and it’s unclear how that trust can be rebuilt. As a result, governing has become “really, really hard.”
