The Real Reason Trump is Still Refusing to Concede
By: Sikander Hayat Khan
Tags: Politics, World, Government, Donald Trump, Election 2020

The longer this drags out, the better his chances of painting himself as the martyr. You see, if he was “wronged,” if he didn’t cheat, then he needs to show his camp he’s fighting for the truth. He’s portrayed himself as a “strong man,” after all, and conceding when he’s supposed to is only going to come across as a sign of weakness.

And there’s a good reason why he wants to be the martyr. If he intends on running in 2024, that’s the only hope he has of winning. Why? Sympathy votes work. Politicians in the Third World have been known to have assassinated their own family members to win elections. And if they were killed by someone else, you could count on them to politicise that too. What Trump is doing is nowhere near that, but the basic premise is the same. At large, people feel they’ve been wronged by the “powers that be” in one form or another. Stand on a podium and show them you have been too, and you instantly become “a man of the people.” Combine that with the fact that we’re living in the age of post-truth, and you’ve got a winning combination on your hands.

And that's why, over the next four years, Trump is going to be hammering the message of how “the man of the people was ousted by the corrupt establishment.” And make no mistake — he’s going to be effective. Because Trump, if anything, has proved that he’s the man you go to if you need to radicalise, gaslight, or divide. Rallying his vote bank of 73 million against the state is right up his alley.

And this is going to have a spiral effect.

First, this is the point where Trump makes the job of the Biden administration that much more difficult. Forget “healing the soul of the nation” he’s going to have his work cut out just trying to hold it together. Trump is going to waste no opportunity in delegitimising the federal government. And if he gets a helping hand from his GOP friends in state leadership, the attack is going to be that much more potent.

And you know where all of that leads?

Political instability — the kind that stunts economic growth. And Trump will blame the government for whatever economic problems he’s had a massive part in creating. Take into account that the economy had seen significant growth during Trump’s term, and people will, once again, buy into the “only Trump can Make America Great Again” nonsense.

And if you think about it, it is arguably a move of political genius — if people don’t see right through you, that is. And that’s where this gets dangerous. I’ve seen this tactic being played out in my country before, and progress came crashing to a halt. It didn't work in the long term — primarily because we’re so used to these dirty tricks it doesn’t take longer than a second to see reality for what it truly is. But America? It hasn't seen this before — and there’s a good chance 73 million either aren’t going to see right through him or are simply going to choose to look the other way.

And that matters. Because come the next election, it’ll be all to play for again. Our world moves fast, and by the time 2024 rolls around, Americans will have largely forgotten about the evils of Trump, and the only thing that’ll be fresh in their minds is the failures of the Biden administration.

And by not conceding now, painting himself as the martyr and subsequently attempting to destabilise the country, Trump will come into the next round stronger than he is right now. Plus, if there’s one thing 2016 taught us, it’s that Trump is dangerous when he’s got everything to win and nothing to lose.