The Commercial Appeal

Trump’s refusal to concede smacks of a huge con

- Your Turn Albert Bender Guest columnist Albert Bender of Nashville is a Cherokee activist, journalist and author of “Native American Wisdom.” Email him at albertbend­er07@yahoo.com.

Donald Trump is still desperatel­y trying to pull off a huge confidence game — colloquial­ly known as a con — to remain president.

This is consistent with his other confidence games, including the false claim that the COVID-19 pandemic is going away, his refusal to release his income tax records and the $287 million in bank loans he finagled into being forgiven.

Large sections of the American electorate have sunk into the morass of madness, but the problem is that most demented people don’t know they’re demented.

Witness Trump supporters who continue to support his claim that he won the election. They have fallen prey to Trump’s con game and descended into the science-fiction world of dystopia, where up is down and vice versa.

The number are clear: Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump

This year’s presidenti­al election was his greatest and clumsiest con attempt yet. The latest vote count has Joe Biden with 80 million votes and Trump with 73 million. Biden also outstrippe­d Trump in the Electoral College arena. The vote margins are too immense for Trump’s nonsense to have any credibilit­y. He has overwhelmi­ngly lost by millions of votes.

In addition, Trump’s allegation­s of voter fraud are baseless. These claims, promulgate­d by personal attorney Rudy Giuliani in his bizarre, clownish press conference­s, are analogous to Don Quixote charging at windmills. Giuliani has provided truly memorable entertainm­ent.

Trump has already lost the popular vote by 7 million and he still wants to be president. This is beyond the absurd.

To make this situation even more absurd, on Nov. 10, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced, “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administra­tion.” Had Pompeo lost his mind?

On the same day as Pompeo’s bizarre statement, Attorney General Bill Barr announced that he was authorizin­g the Justice Department to investigat­e allegation­s of voter fraud. This was beyond ridiculous.

Trump is stoking division and affirming followers’ call for war

What amazes people of color is that Trump received 73 million votes. Trump was not only an extreme racist, but also a misogynist, a sexist and a crude, coarse, fascist promoter of the worst in American culture.

He brought out the lowest and most base feelings in the most backward sections of the white population.

One cannot help but judge Trump’s supporters to be of the same ilk as their candidate.

In 2016 Trump became president because a majority of the white people who voted cast their ballots for him.

Far too much of this country is composed of whites who prefer white supremacy and misogyny to equality, decency and basic morality. Surely not the majority of whites, but again obviously far too many.

The longer Trump maintains that he won and that the election was stolen, the more demented and divorced from reality he sounds.

As for his follower who had threatened “civil war” if he lost, what will their next step be? Are the “red” states going to secede from the United States? I don’t think so.

Trump’s determinat­ion to ignore the election results and refusal to concede smack of an intent to stage a coup and impose a dictatorsh­ip on the people of the U.S. This will not happen.

The people have spoken. Trump be gone!

 ?? SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES ?? President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Dec. 5 in Valdosta, Georgia.
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Dec. 5 in Valdosta, Georgia.
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