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Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden take to the streets in Philadelphia to seek every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted, November 5, 2020. /Getty
Editor's note: Hannan Hussain is a foreign affairs commentator and author. He is a Fulbright recipient at the University of Maryland (U.S.) and a former assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
In one of the most controversial U.S. elections to date, it is difficult to overstate U.S. President Donald Trump's post-election insecurities. Trump's accelerated endorsement of election falsehoods continues to receive a thrashing in state courts, irk party allies, sap media clout, and power his rival's hopes for the future.
On the legal front, the Trump campaign's efforts are riddled with inconsistencies and questionable evidence. Since November 3, the president's team has filed at least six lawsuits in battleground states, where many voter trends benefit democrat rival Joe Biden. At present, it is clear that Trump's case on alleged voter theft is nothing short of a colossal disservice to the people of America.
Consider the state of Michigan, a battleground terrain that swung to Biden this year. Trump's team demanded a review of "opened and counted ballots", while inventing some legal fiction about not having "meaningful access." The state court judge's rapid dismissal, referencing the absence of "first-hand knowledge", finished with the same commitment that Trump claims to be fighting for: to ensure everyone has a full and fair election process.
Challenges to ballot handling hit a wall in hotly anticipated Georgia and Nevada too, accompanied by a controversial push to recount Biden's victory tally in Wisconsin. If the prospect for recount ever materializes, it would already be at odds with a demonstrated five-digit vote difference.
But Trump's approach to electoral subversion doesn't end here. His campaign's legal maneuvers and small-time gains in Pennsylvania are underpinned by hopes of affecting the election outcome. This possibility is directly undermined by swathes of absentee votes that overwhelmingly favor Biden.
Moreover, Trump allies hope to scapegoat Pennsylvania election officials in a post-vote Supreme Court showdown. However, there are two important catches here. First, voting officials bring a legitimate case to count late mail-in ballots, precisely because the Supreme Court upheld this very extension period through a 4-to-4 vote. Thus, to succeed in ruling out any of the desired votes, the Trump camp would have to rigorously deconstruct the initial rationale that marked the top court's earlier green light.
Judging by Trump's unmitigated opposition to almost any type of absentee ballot, it is safe to assume that evidence-based argument-building will be in short supply.
New York Police Department officers detain a protester during the 2020 Presidential election in New York, U.S., November 5, 2020. /Getty
The president's norm-shattering election finish is also eroding his "knack" for dominating airwaves. In an uncharacteristic display on November 5, several of America's leading broadcast networks gave the president's official news conference a hard pass. "The president made a number of false statements, including the notion that there has been fraudulent voting," said one media official as part of his outlet's position. Considering the fact that numerous news outlets were busy playing judge and jury vis-à-vis their competitors, it would have been an ideal moment for the president to unleash new rhetoric and exploit potential divides.
But the underlying tension is self-sustaining: widespread attacks on America's vote-count sensitivities appear to be costing Trump his rhetoric too.
As several dynamics converge around Trump's resistance to legitimate election competition, the democrats have been saved some humiliation on their end as well. Party members engaged in a heated post-election exchange on Friday, blaming their liberal colleagues for entertaining far-left views. They assert that extreme party positions have contributed to adverse voter reception and cost members their seats this year. "We need to not ever use the word 'socialist' or 'socialism' ever again ... We lost good members because of that," fired away representative Abigail Spanberger.
It is worth noting that the Biden camp was also prepared to muster some of this overdrawn, left-leaning energy to counter the Trump campaign's election falsehoods. A dedicated legal team was on stand-by. But playing Trump's game by his rules, in every court, would've given the masses the opposite message: that the integrity of the absentee vote was truly in question.
It is against this backdrop that Trump's bizarre attacks on the integrity of the voting process, democratic institutions, and legally cast ballots represent a risk too far for some within his own party ranks. "We want every vote counted, yes every legal vote (of course). But, if you have legit concerns about fraud, present EVIDENCE and take it to court. STOP Spreading debunked misinformation ... This is getting insane," tweeted Republican lawmaker Adam Kinzinger. In a rare and subtle display of resistance, even Trump's iron-ally Mitch McConnell felt compelled to clarify that "claiming you've won the election is different from finishing the counting."
Whichever way one cuts it, Trump's determination to undermine America's 'democracy first' dogma is both ambitious and unsustainable at present. An unwillingness to concede to this reality suggests he will champion his own undoing.
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