To the Editor:
It seems to me that President Trump’s continued refusal to concede defeat is less a sinister plot to cling to power and more a determination to somehow declare victory even in defeat. If the recent vaccine news holds true, that will be an extraordinary accomplishment by our scientific community, and let’s give credit where it’s due — and maybe even some that’s not due.
Let’s all agree to praise Mr. Trump for Operation Warp Speed’s success and congratulate him for the fastest and most robust (or best and most beautiful) vaccine campaign in history. Let him take that win as his way to declare a personal victory and make way for President-elect Joe Biden.
If Mr. Trump is going to continue to hold incredible sway over his supporters in his post-presidency, I can think of no better role for him than as a champion of the effectiveness of the “Trump” Covid vaccines. Maybe he can reach people who would otherwise be reluctant to get vaccinated.
So let me be the first to congratulate him. Heckuva job, Donnie!
Will Brennan
Girdwood, Alaska
To the Editor:
Irony of ironies. If Donald Trump had spent a fraction of the energy on fighting Covid-19 as he has trying to overturn the election, he would have won the election.
Bobbie Kaplan
New York
To the Editor:
Re “Transition Delay Could Cost Lives, Biden Warns” (front page, Nov. 17):
Joe Biden rightly says that President Trump’s refusal to cooperate with his transition team is likely to increase the number of deaths from the coronavirus. In this situation, three G.O.P. senators have a lot of power and should use it for the general good.
Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney (all of whom have congratulated Mr. Biden) should tell the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, that unless he urges President Trump to stop blocking the transition, they will leave the Republican caucus. This would mean that the G.O.P. would lose its Senate majority, and Mr. McConnell would lose his position as majority leader.
There is no guarantee, of course, that pressure on Mr. Trump from Mr. McConnell by itself will do the trick. But it would help open the gates for other Republicans to follow suit and put people before party, which is what the present moment desperately needs.
Emrys Westacott
Alfred, N.Y.
To the Editor:
And we were worried about the Russians subverting the U.S. elections while the real threat was emanating from the White House by its current resident and his accomplices.
Judy Duffy
Birchwood, Minn.
To the Editor:
Re “Mr. President, Pack Your Bags and Be Gone” (column, Nov. 14):
Roger Cohen is fretting about President Trump’s “Hail Mary plan” to swap out the Biden electors for Trump electors. He should relax. The consequence of any legislature attempting a political coup of this nature would create the greatest backlash in our country, equivalent in ferocity to our original revolution.
While Mr. Trump may flail about and spin conspiracy theories in an attempt to hold onto power, he will soon be irrelevant. Once his grip on power is gone, his fair-weather friends in Congress will soon forget him and move on, notwithstanding the impressive vote from his supporters. And his legal troubles will surely end his chance for a reprise of his chaos and mendacity.
Ronald S. Pohl
Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Re “As Trump Digs In, a Look at Others Who Refused to Go,” by Sarah Lyall (Political Memo, Nov. 15):
It occurred to me that President Trump’s parting shot on Jan. 20 could very well be a competing rally (the anti-inauguration?) at the time of Joe Biden’s ceremony — perhaps at his Trump International Hotel in Washington. It would be a fitting, small-minded insult to us all.
Lawrence Borzumato
North Kingstown, R.I.