Trump’s win of 306 electoral votes in the 2016 election was considered a landslide. Yet, when Biden is on the path to 306, it is considered fraud. How did we get here?
The 2020 election is technically over, but the American people, no matter the political party, are still waiting on an answer. Will Trump concede? Will the military have to physically remove him from the White House come Jan. 20? I honestly cannot say a definitive “no.” Regardless of the fact that many news sources — the New York Times, NBC, the Washington Post and CNN — projected Joe Biden to be the winner of the Presidential election, Trump leaves not only Americans, but the world on the edge of their seats.
It is almost like a bad movie at this point. When I watched Bill Murray in “Groundhog’s Day” for the first time, I never thought to myself “this is how the news headlines will make me feel when I am 19.” We waited days for the final count and projections to be announced. It felt like an eternity, considering how high the stakes were and still are. No one really knew what was going to happen. Of course, Biden was polling better leading up to the election, but I still could not fully commit to saying “Biden will win.” It was not until he secured Michigan and Minnesota that I thought, “he could win this.”
Currently, Joe Biden has a total of 77,920,048 total votes, the most in Presidential history, and is projected to secure 306 electoral votes. This most recently changed on Nov. 12 when the Washington Post and the New York Times projected Biden to win Arizona and Georgia. Trump and his administration, however, refuse to accept these projections. I cannot say I am surprised after President Trump’s premature announcement via Twitter on Nov. 3 that he won the election. China also recently congratulated Biden as the winner of the Presidential election according to the Washington Post . Wange Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, stated, “We respect the American people’s choice.” Trump has filed most of his lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona. However, many sources call the lawsuits flimsy, lacking in evidence and unlikely to go anywhere. Trump is blatantly refusing to concede and several members of his party continue to back his claims of voter fraud. The waiting game continues for the Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate waits for a run-off election in Georgia, while the House waits for the final 15 seats to be filled. The House is currently Democratic with the win of 218 seats, the threshold for the majority. The outcome of both will determine if balance of power has a place in our government again.
While I am relieved with the outcome of the election, I can’t say all my worries have disappeared since the projected winner was announced. While Trump’s lawsuits are based on invisible claims, it is hard to believe all Americans feel confident nothing will go wrong. After the impeachment trials and quick confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s power over people and the government is concerning. It is comforting to know that political heads in both parties, like Chris Christie, Mitt Romney, Mike DeWine, Susan Rice, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Amy Klobuchar, endorsed Biden or have called out Trump for his childish outburst and lawsuits with no evidence. The United States needs to return to its roots. Our country has become a place where checks and balances are non-existent in the government, where the parties constantly belittling and criticizing each other and being a racist is somehow an option without consequence. Now we wait with our fingers crossed that Jan. 20 will come without WWIII trailing behind it.
