In real time, Donald Trump’s attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election seemed like a scattershot affair – the final, desperate political throes of a vainglorious man who refused to come to terms with a simple fact: the country wanted him gone. Surely American democracy, nearly 250 years strong, wouldn’t fall to a motley crew that included the MyPillow Guy and a once respected lawyer now so far past his prime that he accidentally held a press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping instead of the luxury hotel with a similar name. Logistical mistakes happen. More embarrassing for Rudy Giuliani was his record in court. The lawsuits he filed to reverse Joe Biden’s win weren’t just unsuccessful, they weren’t just dismissed by Trump-appointed judges, they were also so explicitly dishonest that Giuliani has been barred from practicing law in the city where he earned the title ‘America’s Mayor.’
What a shame.
As the Biden administration helps America settle into business-as-usual, or what passes for it in the era of COVID-19, it’s become a liberal hobbyhorse to highlight the rank incompetence of Trump’s inner circle as they flailed their way out of power. Indeed, it’s hard to resist schadenfreude; if anyone deserves to be mocked it’s the group of graceless blowhards in the Trump administration who were more animated by a personal political defeat than the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans on their watch.
“It is what is,” Trump said last August, when a thousand Americans were dying of COVID-19 every day. But he’s far from zen on his loss to Biden. “Fight like hell,” he told a group of supporters convinced that the election was stolen. They would go on to injure 140 police officers as they raided the U.S. Capitol.
So yes, it’s tempting to revel in the sinking ship that is Trump’s second-term delusion. Especially so because it’s being captained by the likes of Mike Lindell, who made his name appearing in infomercials, and Patrick Byrne, the former executive who was fired from Overstock.com after being seduced and played by a Russian asset. Both are spending their fortunes and dwindling reputations on the Big Lie.
But as new details emerge about the levers of power Trump tried to pull in order to subvert the will of voters, it’s important to understand how close he came and who helped him.
CNN has published an extensive timeline of events. We suggest you check it out. It’s certainly of interest to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is pursuing a criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to lie, cheat, and steal his way to victory.
Trump will likely seek the White House once again in 2024. The report CNN has put together doubles as a roadmap of a terrain this country can’t afford to explore a second time.
