It’s amazing to me that it has been 18 months since the 2020 presidential election and we’re still talking about it, but we are. There are plenty of people who still do not believe Trump lost the election… some are friends of mine… and having listened to them explain their position, I’ve noticed something about their thinking.
Part of it is that they simply don’t see how it’s even possible that Trump could have lost.
In their surroundings, with their friends and from their chosen media outlets, they saw nothing but enormous enthusiasm for Trump 2020… the yard signs… the rallies… giant flags… the passion to re-elect the president.
They didn’t see any of that on behalf of Joe Biden, so the thinking goes, how could Mr. Biden possibly have won?
I do understand that sort of thinking. I’ve noticed that this country feels very different depending on where you are, so if you’re in a “red” area, and if you get your news from so-called conservative channels and publications, then I’m sure it felt very different than it would have living in San Francisco and watching MSNBC, for example.
So, while for me, there was no surprise seeing Trump’s loss, after all, the polls did predict him losing, for them it seemed like an impossibility. Nonetheless, he did lose. There should be no real question about that at this point.
All the court challenges were dismissed, whether by judges appointed by Trump or another president. Georgia recounted all the votes three times. All state election officials, including Republicans, are certain the outcome was legitimate. And the claims made in Arizona… well, they just became embarrassing.
Here’s an example:
Cyber Ninjas, the company hired to audit Arizona’s election results, said today that they’ve found 74,000 ballots that were mailed in, but for which there is no record of them being requested, the implication being that they’re fraudulent. But, they’re not and there’s no mystery about from where these ballots came.
It’s simple really. Arizona has two databases. One is ballots requested and the other is ballots received, but they stop counting the ballots received when the in-person voting begins, so the 74,000 ballots that don’t appear in the ballots received database were cast in-person as opposed to being mailed in.
It’s not a mystery. It’s not fraud. It’s how the system is supposed to work.
So, yes… Trump lost the election. Not by much, certainly not by as much as the polls suggested he would, but he did lose.
Why Trump lost…
A multitude of journalists and political commentators have weighed in as to why Trump lost the election. Some say he lost because of losing ground with suburban housewives. Others say that it was his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic that did him in.
I think someone has to state the obvious… Trump lost because he’s a dick. A jerk. An asshole, if you’ll pardon the language. That’s just him. There were some days during his presidency that I really think he woke up and said, who can I piss off today?
The man is offensive in so many ways to so many people… and he doesn’t seem to care at all. He surrounds himself with family members and others who don’t dare tell him what he doesn’t want to hear, so maybe he doesn’t even realize how much harm he causes himself.
Now, you may like Trump for any number of reasons and that’s fine by me. But, you do recognize that he’s kind of a dick, right? I mean, his personality is not all flowers and candy, right? It shouldn’t be hard to see that a lot of people in this country don’t like him.
He spent four years saying terrible things about many different people. Do I need to remind you? Think of it this way… you wanted him to “own the libs,” and he did. But, there are a lot of “libs” in this country, so in doing so, he pissed off a lot of people.
And, so he lost.
He didn’t lose by much, by the way. It really came down to some forty thousand votes in three states, a super slim margin. But, he did lose.
Not because of voter fraud. Not because of his policies. Not because of how he handled Covid-19. He lost because he’s his own worst enemy. He lost because he’s a dick and a lot of people came to hate him as a result.
It shouldn’t have surprised anyone the morning after election day, when his lead from the night before vanished as mail in ballots were counted. That’s what was supposed to happen. That’s what the pollsters said would happen. That’s what CNN said would happen.
Republicans would largely vote in person on election day, because that’s what Trump said they should do. Being more concerned about the virus’ spread, Democrats would vote largely by mail and because main-in ballots are counted AFTER in-person votes, it was likely that on election night Trump would be ahead, but once mail-in ballots were counted that lead would grow smaller and… he lost.
I understand that it was disappointing, but it shouldn’t be surprising because that’s what happened.
You liked him, but you knew he was kind of a jerk. Maybe he was your jerk, but you knew he was a jerk… a dick… an asshole. I’m sorry to use language like that, but you know what I mean. You voted for him, at least in part, because of his abrasive and to many, offensive personality. So, you really shouldn’t be so surprised that he lost.
Think of our election as a popularity contest. Would you seriously expect Donald Trump to win a popularity contest? I mean, among his top supporters… of course. But, in general? No way. He’s not the kind of guy in college who gets voted “Most Congenial,” or “Most Likely to Be President.”
He’s a dick and we all know what that means. I realize that where you live, you saw a lot of enthusiasm for Trump in 2020. I also realize that you saw none of that enthusiasm exhibited for Joe Biden. I get that.
However, that’s not how you should look at it.
Yes, there was a lot of support for Trump in 2020. In parts of the country, it was enormous. But, over 50 states, Trump lost to Biden by a small margin. Not because of fraud… how would anyone even know in advance which states required fraudulent ballots… the whole thing doesn’t make sense… and it’s been litigated some 50 times with the same result.
I hate to have to tell you this, but… Trump knows he lost. Maybe he didn’t know on election night, but he knows now. If you read the excerpts from his recent interviews, you’d see… he knows. But, he also raises a lot of money under the guise of funding his imaginary battle… and so does Marjorie Taylor Greene, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz… and so many more. They have raked in literally hundreds of millions on the back of supposed election fraud.
Trump alone raised over $200 million AFTER ELECTION DAY… and that’s as of December 2020. By now, that total is certainly much higher. He did it using the claims of a fraudulent election.
It galvanizes and energizes his base, as politicos would say. It works, so why fix it?
Look, donate to whomever you want… I don’t care and it’s none of my business anyway. If you like Trump and want to send him money… great. But, know that it’s not to expose voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 election. Not even close. That debate has ended.
Former President Trump did things that many in this country loved. I would never claim to dislike the tax cuts, for example. It’s his personality that cost him the election. He’s just a guy who swings at every pitch… and chews out the umpire when he strikes out.
A lot of people find that sort of behavior to be… well, let’s just say… less than presidential, and leave it at that.
Mandelman out.
