Trump should have offered the country class during transition

It is beyond sad that our politicians do not — and perhaps cannot — act the way our professional athletes do.

Imagine what a tremendous boost it would have been for our country if

Joe Biden and Donald Trump acted the way top football competitors Tom Brady and Drew Brees did following last Sunday’s playoff game.

No matter who you rooted for — the Tampa Bay Bucs or the New Orleans Saints — it did your heart good to watch the two quarterbacks, still in uniform, hug each other after the game.

It was such a touching moment that, had you not watched the game, it would have been difficult to determine who won and who lost. It may not even have mattered.

And then after the game, which the Bucs won, the two met again on the field, this time in civilian clothes. Brees had his young children with him.

The two football greats hugged again, and Brady threw a playful pass into the end zone to one of Brees’ young boys.

The video of their meeting went viral, attracting millions of viewers.

No one in their wildest dreams would have imagined outgoing Trump and incoming Biden ending up in the arms of one another, let alone even having a conversation.

The presidential campaign, the election and its aftermath were much too hateful for that. Trump left the White House on Wednesday morning a beaten man — if only temporarily — without even a word to Biden or a greeting or even a nod.

Biden, of course, could have called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in the name of unity, to ditch the second political impeachment of Trump, but he did not. In fact, Biden looks forward to a second Trump Senate impeachment trial.

Biden needs action, not words, if he is to unify the country.

A trial by the Senate, with his support, would further divide the country. It would fuel the anger among millions of Trump supporters and turn Trump into a martyr.

With all he has on his plate, the last thing Biden needs is the distraction of a Senate trial.

Biden has made a lot of campaign promises he needs to fulfill. Right now, he is all hat and no cattle, as LBJ would say.

Even as he assumed office, Central American immigrants Biden welcomed into the U.S. during the campaign were getting their heads broken by the Guatemalan military herding them back to Honduras. The poor immigrants said they were coming to the U.S. because Biden promised to suspend deportations for at least 100 days.

Meanwhile, Communist China has launched a military intimidation campaign against our ally Taiwan, the Iranian navy fired rockets close to our aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz, and Rocket Man in North Korea held a huge military parade to show off his new ballistic missiles.

It was in the interest of all Americans for Trump and

Biden to conduct a civilized transfer of power, as in the past. Trump is at fault for boycotting the event, although Biden deserves blame, too.

They acted more like enemies than opponents.

If only the two could have shown the grace and class that Brady, 43, and Brees, 42, did on that football field — one a winner and the other a loser.

Instead of shunning one another, a handshake between Trump and Biden would have done wonders to boost unity in the country. Before fleeing Washington, Trump owed that much to the country. Biden did, too.

Brees, like Trump, had a rough year. He missed four games because of injuries and COVID-19. He had multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung. And he probably played his last game after 15 seasons.

He said: “I’ve always tried to play this game with great respect and a great reverence for it, and I appreciate all that this game has given me. There are obviously so many incredible memories and so many incredible relationships that have come as a result of playing this game.

“You find out so much about yourself and you have to fight through so much when you play this game. And I’d say this season I probably had to fight through more than I’ve ever had to in any other season in my career, from injury to all the COVID-19 stuff, to just crazy circumstances. And it was worth every moment. Absolutely.”

Brees and Brady showed how it should have been done.