The Lead host wonders why, when Trump could be touting this great vaccine achievement, he instead decides to go off the rails with these "deranged lies" about having won the election.
December 9, 2020

As long as Trump keeps denying reality and lying about the election results, at least some journalists will be here to correct him. Tonight, Jake Tapper did the honors, showing a clip of President Pinocchio at the Vaccine Summit answering a question about how the next administration (the Biden/Harris administration) will handle the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine.

Trump answered, "We will have to see who the next administration is, because we won."

Tapper immediately went in.

TAPPER: That's not true. Outgoing president Trump lost. I'm not qualified as a news anchor to say why the president continues to state otherwise and spread this lie. I don't know if it's political, or if he's cynically lying, or if there is some sort of psychological issue. The reality is, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if he doesn't want to acknowledge it. On January 20, President-elect Joe Biden will become President Joe Biden, elected by more than 81 million Americans. Also, minutes ago, President-elect Biden vowed 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days.

I understand what Tapper means when he says it doesn't matter that Trump keeps saying he won. He means that this isn't Neverland, and it's not like Trump can just clap if he wants Tinkerbell to live. No matter what lies Trump tells about his having won the election, the wheels of government (seem like they) will turn, and Joe Biden will be sworn in as president on January 20, 2021.

I disagree that what Trump says doesn't matter, though. It may not impact who becomes America's actual president in January. Trump's lies do, however, have the crushing effect of normalizing denial, suspicion, and appeasement of Gestapo tactics against any government servant trying to honestly do their job. Just ask Chris Krebs or Rebekah Jones. Or hell, Jim Comey, for that matter.

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