Part 5. “This Can’t Be Happening”

Clinical Perspective: Trump Will Refuse to Leave Office

— “Now the Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision…I accept the finality of this outcome…for the sake of our unity of the people and the strength of our democracy…our disappointment must be overcome by our love of country…This is America and…we will stand together behind our new president.” — Al Gore’s concession speech, December 13, 2000.

— “You won’t know the election results for weeks, months, maybe years after. Maybe you’ll never know the election result.” — Donald Trump railing against mail-in ballots, August 2, 2020.

Muddy the Waters

Those who comfort themselves with the naïve assertion that when Biden is inaugurated on January 20, there is a “process in place” such that Trump will be escorted from the White House when he refuses to leave. For the last four years, Donald Trump has done nothing but trample upon constitutional laws, guidelines, traditions, ethical and moral standards, and “processes in place.”

Even with an overwhelming defeat, Trump will use the levers of power at his disposal to furiously insist the election was rigged, especially by mail-in ballots. By stating that “maybe you’ll never know the election result,” he is explicitly telegraphing his full intention to tie up the final outcome in the courts by contesting scores of unfavorable results, state-by-state. As such, he will be aided by his contemptible Attorney General, Bill Barr (who has made it clear that he is the president’s personal lawyer and not the legal watchdog for the American people); a battalion of attorneys, dozens of whom are already hard at work; and a host of enabling and soulless Republican governors, senators, and house members.

His motivation is clear: muddy the waters so thoroughly in the courts that there is no certifiable winner on inauguration day and, if he succeeds, far beyond. So much for the orderly process of conceding defeat. Of critical import, Trump is acutely aware that when he does leave the presidency, he will be met with handcuffs soon thereafter by Cyrus Vance, the District Attorney of New York City where the Trump Organization is seated; and by Letitia James, the Attorney General for New York State. Vance and James, both tenacious and politically ambitious, have signaled the seriousness of their investigations which can only be unleashed with overwhelming force when Trump leaves office.

Recall Trump’s solipsistic personality make-up (Part 2) in which there is no other reality than his own. All people and objects are regarded only as functions; as obstacles or ornaments, enemies or allies to be manipulated like pieces of furniture. It is a monumental understatement to say that he scoffs at the notion of putting aside personal interests “for the love of our country” such as we witnessed in the 2000 election.

“We knew Al Gore, and Donald Trump, you’re no Al Gore!”

Following the 2000 presidential election, the closest in modern history, Democratic candidate Al Gore immediately conceded to George W. Bush the same night, before withdrawing his concession hours later upon learning that the Florida results — comprising 25 electoral votes that would determine the winner — were much too close to call. What followed was a tumultuous legal battle, suits and counter-suits, for five weeks of recounting votes by hand and certifying the infamous “hanging chads,” which left unclear in hundreds of cases for whom the voter was voting. With brother Jeb Bush as governor and Florida Secretary of State Kathleen Harris — an ardent member of the Bush campaign — presiding over the recount, the margin of loss for Gore was a razor thin 537 popular votes out of six million cast in the state.

Finally, on December 12, in a 5–4 Supreme Court vote decided by the conservative majority, the election was declared over, with no further recounts permitted. Rather than continuing to pursue additional legal maneuvers regarding a host of voting shenanigans, Gore accepted defeat, transcending his bitterness with amazing grace in a truly memorable concession speech emphasizing “love of country.” His defeat was cemented by a single vote in the SCOTUS, yielding a margin of 271 for Bush vs. 266 for Gore in the Electoral College.

We can be utterly certain that Trump will pursue every deception and dirty trick possible not to follow Gore’s remarkably graceful departure.

Desperation

With only 78 days remaining until the election, Trump’s desperation has become palpable. Virtually every poll shows him trailing Biden by double digits. Unable to orchestrate the massive campaign rallies that bolster his grandiosity, he appears lost and listless. His previous racist dog-whistle has become an air raid siren, tweeting that “suburban housewives” would support him following his efforts to prevent subsidized minority housing from invading their neighborhoods, lowering property values and elevating crime. No longer satisfied that Fox News is doing his bidding, he tweeted today that his supporters should turn to OANN, the extreme fringe right news network that hawks every outrageous conspiracy theory (e.g., both 911 and the Sandy Hook massacre were staged; Democrats are deeply engaged in child sex trafficking and drink the blood of abducted children, etc.).

In his most staggering act of unconscionable self-interest, Trump has blatantly sabotaged the entire postal system and its 650,000 employees by installing a major republican donor, Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General of the US Postal Service. His wife has been appointed ambassador to Canada, and he has as much as $75 million invested in companies that compete with the USPS. Like the wrecking ball Trump appointed him to be, he has swiftly eliminated crucial worker overtime, begun the removal of 502 million-dollar ultrahigh-speed mail sorting machines, and reassigned or removed dozens of vital operational executives. With no forewarning, an estimated 142,000 mailboxes across the country have been carted away. As a severe solipsist, he is oblivious and thoroughly indifferent regarding the impact on the public receiving medication, Social Security and unemployment checks, bills, birthday and holiday cards, etc. He is laser-focused only on his re-election by whatever means possible, regardless of the evil he unleashes in human suffering and the demolition of democracy.

In early 2017, soon after Trump was inaugurated, my colleague, psychologist John Gartner, founder of the grassroots organization Duty to Warn and coauthor of the NYT bestseller, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, was interviewed on television by Lawrence O’Donnell. When asked to describe the psychological makeup of the menacing new president, paraphrasing Gartner’s reply, he said, “If a mad scientist were to create an evil Frankenstein-like monster to be president, with the worst possible assemblage of characteristics, it would be Donald Trump.”

We are now witnessing the full unveiling of the monster Gartner recognized. The nightmare we are entering will get much, much worse.

We are not nearly as afraid as we should be!

Chicago, IL