President Trump, supporters need to learn losing is just a part of life
For the past four years, I have scrambled to change the channel anytime the President came on when my children were in the room for fear of what he might say or do. That sense of urgency has continued even after he clearly lost the election. My son is 10 and plays travel hockey as one of the team’s two goalies, and he is still learning what it really means to win or lose.
After tough games in the locker room, there are often excuses: “The refs really didn’t call that one right,” or, “That second goal shouldn’t have counted because…” And every time, myself and the other coaches are quick to remind the team that we have control over our own portions of the game — how we play, the effort we give, and how we react when we lose. Losing sucks, but it is a part of life. With his latest narcissistic tirades, the President is not only endangering our entire democracy — he is also being a horrible role model for our kids.
The bedrock of American democracy is fair and free elections. His efforts to sow doubt, with no evidence of fraud, threaten to erode faith in our most trusted institutions. Having run for office myself several times, I have won some and lost some. In fact, in one election I won a majority of votes on election day and had a sizeable lead — until absentee ballots were counted later — and I lost by a very slim margin of less than 100 votes. I’ll admit, I questioned the result at the time, but within 24 hours, I congratulated the winner and moved on, because the principles of our democracy are bigger than any one person.
Baseless accusations of fraud, only in places he lost, are nothing more than an attempt to sow discord and will wreak havoc in our country long after the President leaves, or is removed, from the White House in January. Voters decided and are ready to move forward. Continuing to inflame already heated rhetoric by telling his fan base that he was cheated increases the chances of violence and damages our credibility around the world.
Our election system is built with many checks and balances, and if the President or other candidates have actual proof of fraud, they by all means should put it forward and it should be investigated. But that isn’t the case here.
The claims put forward so far have all been debunked and while there have been some errors that were corrected, that shows that the system is working exactly as it was intended. His claims are all the more ludicrous because the President has a history of lying about everything from losing the popular vote in 2016 to making hush money payments to a porn star.
Even here in Michigan, Trump sympathizers in the Michigan House and Senate are running around issuing subpoenas and fueling the unnecessary unrest around our state even as they privately admit the results won’t change. The Republicans who continue to enable the President and his lies about the election are accomplices in what may be the biggest test our democracy faces in recent history. They are as responsible for the destruction of norms and values in this country as the President himself. When will they stand up and say that enough is enough?
I am working hard to teach the 10- and 11-year-olds I coach that losing is a part of life. It is a lesson the President and the Michigan GOP apparently need to learn as well.
Voters decided and are ready to move forward. Continuing to inflame already heated rhetoric by telling his fan base that he was cheated increases the chances of violence and damages our credibility around the world.