Democracy prevailed, albeit haltingly, Monday when a heretofor obscure bureaucrat authorized Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the 2020 president election.
The belated recognition by General Services Administrator Emily Murphy opens up cooperation between the incoming and outgoing administrations as well as the sharing of vital information, including security briefings and the efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 16-day holdup had been infuriating for the Biden team, eager to get the ball rolling.
Murphy defended the delay on “legal challenges and incomplete counts,” in key battleground states.
No doubt, her job had been made more difficult by her boss.
While Mr. Trump is nominally allowing the process to proceed, he continues to tweet “We will prevail!” promising yet more lawsuits, despite the fact dozens have already been dismissed or defeated.
THESE LAST few weeks have been trying for many Americans.
Never before have we had a U.S. president slander democracy by calling our elections, without evidence, rigged, and the votes cast against him as illegitimate.
Never before has a U.S. President accused fellow Americans of cheating him of election.
Never before has a U.S. president requested state legislatures reject their electors’ votes.
Never before have we had a president pressure state canvassing board members to not certify Election Day results.
Never before have we seen democracy so tested.
Despite all these challenges, the guardrails held fast.
Of those who stood strong was Brad Raffensperger, secretary of state for Georgia, who faced death threats and demands for his resignation by fellow Republicans unless its recount favored Trump.
Throughout the recount Raffensperger did not waver. And when the votes once again came down in Biden’s favor, he simply said, “the numbers don’t lie,” and are “the verdict of the people.”
Across the country, state election officials, Republican and Democrat, declared the elections safe and accurate.
