RIBEIRÃO PRETO, SP – (Opinion) The most concise definition of Trump Derangement Syndrome, abbreviated TDS, is a “hatred of President Trump so intense that it impairs people’s judgment,” causing them to believe (falsely?) that Trump is deranged. As his presidency draws to a close, however, Trump’s reaction to losing the election, and the attempts by his sycophants to overturn the election, definitely seem to border on derangement. Some examples follow.
First Example. Late last year, Trump reportedly entertained the possibility of declaring martial law, calling out the military and revoking the November election results, ordering new elections in the states he won in 2016 but lost in 2020.
This fantasy prompted a public letter, signed by ultra-conservative former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and by all ten surviving former Secretaries of Defense, including two whom Trump had hired. It characterized the involvement of the Armed Forces in election disputes as “dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional”.
The letter did not use word “deranged” but it would have been apt, as armed forces involvement in elections is the stuff of banana republics and coups d’état.
Second Example. Two weeks earlier, with Trump’s backing, Congressman Louie Gohmert (Rep – TX), had filed a lawsuit claiming that, at the Congressional session on January 6th to ratify the Electoral College (EC) results, the Vice President has the unbridled individual power to select which state results to submit to Congress for approval, and which to suppress.
The court decision dismissing the case did not use the word “deranged” about the claim but it would have been apt, as it would have required declaring an 1887 statute unconstitutional while empowering a sitting vice president to choose to reelect himself and the president.
Third Example. Trump’s latest gambit was to call the Georgia Secretary of State, a fellow Republican, badgering him for an hour claiming that the election was fraudulent, and urging him repeatedly to “find me 11,780 votes” – the number he would need to overturn the actual voting result in Georgia.
The Secretary of State replied that two recounts had shown no change, and called Trump’s voter fraud allegations “just plain wrong”. His reply did not use the word “deranged” but it would have been apt, as Biden would have a substantial EC majority even without Georgia’s 16 votes.
Fourth Example. Some Republican senators have announced that on January 6th they will challenge the EC certified results in those seven states Trump won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020.
These Republicans continue to echo Trump’s ever-wilder claims of widespread voter fraud and irregularities – allegations made in some 80+ lawsuits filed by Trump’s campaign and his lawyers. No court has validated a single one of these claims.
Is this January 6th challenge deranged? We submit it is indeed. Our arguments follow.
First, the Republican argument depends on unproven and largely debunked allegations that, in reality, are simply “alternative facts”, to use Trump’s derided euphemism for untruths.
Second, it is quixotic: doomed to fail. For Congress to overturn the EC results requires a majority vote in both houses, which cannot happen, as many Republican legislators have recognized Biden as President-elect.
Third, it is self-contradictory, as it challenges the very system – the undemocratic Electoral College – that Trump used in 2016 to justify his election although he lost the popular vote.
The fundamental underpinning of the Electoral College is states’ rights, including the right to conduct elections in accordance with state laws. The Republican Party has always staunchly defended states’ rights; it makes no sense for Republicans to try to override them now.
After the Congressional farce on January 6th, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. will still be the U.S. President-elect. He will take office, “the Lord willin’ and the crick don’t rise” as we used to say back home in Indiana, on January 20th.
It is a safe bet that Donald Trump will not show up at the inauguration ceremony.