Robertson: Trump Lives in an ‘Alternate Reality’

“You know, with all his talent and the ability to be able to raise money and grow large crowds, the president still lives in an alternate reality. He really does. People say, ‘Well, he lies about this, that and the other.’ But no, he isn’t lying; to him, that’s the truth.”

— “Televangelist Pat Robertson, one of President Trump’s staunchest backers, on Monday described Trump as ‘very erratic,’ called on him to accept that President-elect Joe Biden won and said the Republican should not consider running again in 2024,” the Washington Post reports.

Trump Is the First U.S. President to Consider a Coup

“Never before in U.S. history has there been a record of a president discussing a military coup to stay in office. Is there any doubt that if Trump could find any active-duty generals willing to carry out this plot against America, he would give it the go-ahead? In this instance, all that is preserving the Constitution is the military’s fidelity to the rule of law.”

— Max Boot

Wehner: Trump Is Losing His Mind

“Given Trump’s psychological profile, it was inevitable that when he felt the walls of reality close in on him—in 2020, it was the pandemic, the cratering economy, and his election defeat—he would detach himself even further from reality. It was predictable that the president would assert even more bizarre conspiracy theories. That he would become more enraged and embittered, more desperate and despondent, more consumed by his grievances. That he would go against past supplicants, like Attorney General Bill Barr and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and become more aggressive toward his perceived enemies. That his wits would begin to turn, in the words of King Lear. That he would begin to lose his mind. … So he has. And, as a result, President Trump has become even more destabilizing and dangerous.”

— Peter Wehner

Trump: Always a Loser

“[Trump] is crying so long and loudly about the unfairness of his loss that he is forcing officials at every level of government, across the country, to take sides—against him. His frenetic efforts to deny his defeat have simply underscored it. Trump really is leaving office on January 20th, and he really will go out as an impeached and defeated President, forevermore listed in the history books alongside Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter and all the other one-termers he disdains. He is now, and will always be, a loser.”

— Susan Glasser

Australian Pol: Trump’s Mishandling of Pandemic Lost the Election

“If Donald Trump had handled the pandemic half-decently he would have won the election. He was headed towards a victory until the pandemic hit. It was his mishandling of that because, in the end, the public, when threatened, want their leaders to defend them against the threat.”

— Former Australian prime minister John Howard said that Donald Trump penned a lengthy “political suicide note” with his “terrible” handling of the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reports.

Trump’s Ultimate Loyalty Test for Republicans

“For the past six weeks, Trump has staged the ultimate loyalty test for the party faithful as he forced Republican officials to opt between siding with him and the nation’s democratic process. Through public displays of support and lengthy silences, the vast majority of elected Republicans chose to back Trump. … Nearly two-thirds of House Republicans and 18 state attorneys general signed their names to the failed Supreme Court lawsuit seeking to have justices overturn the will of voters in multiple states. Others have gone on television to parrot the president’s baseless conspiracy theories about vote-rigging. Some are using rhetoric reminiscent of the Civil War to express their fealty to the president’s cause.”

— Washington Post