His friends turn around

Nerves are tense in the US election thriller. Donald Trump seems unable to accept defeat. That is why he is attacking his country’s democracy and plunging many Republicans into a dilemma.

This has never happened before in the United States. When current US President Donald Trump appeared in front of the press on Thursday evening, several US broadcasters stopped broadcasting his speech after a few seconds. Trump again declared himself the winner of the elections, accusing the Democrats of electoral fraud. Evidence? No. Questions were not allowed.

Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the White House press room: once again the US president has accused the Democrats of electoral fraud without presenting any evidence. (Source: AP / dpa)

With his false claims, Trump is increasingly harming US democracy and the dignity of his office. Many of his supporters believe his lies, are currently taking to the streets – sometimes armed – and demonstrating against an election that was indeed just and democratic. Trump accepts an escalation of violence and continues to heat the atmosphere to maintain his power. His motivation: He doesn’t want to be a loser, not a single-term US president.

Lies, lies, lies …

Since it can hardly hurt its political opponent more, it is now attacking the elections themselves – and with them US democracy as an institution. First, he lashed out at the postal vote count, which in many places was still going on three days after the elections. Most of these were submitted by supporters of his challenger Joe Biden, who voted more often by mail due to the Crown crisis. None of this is fraud, it is normal practice.

Many Republicans currently see the president’s actions as an attack on US democracy. That’s why many of Trump’s friends don’t want to follow him anymore. Some of his comrades keep their distance so as not to be dragged by him. The image of the jump from the “Trumptanic” is circulating in social networks.

So it’s no coincidence that no one endorsed Trump at his press conference, not even Vice President Mike Pence. Pence, who has cheered the president of the United States in virtually every major situation over the past four years, is now a bit far. “I’m on President Trump’s side. We have to count every LEGAL vote,” the vice president wrote on Twitter. He does not ask that the counts be stopped, he does not talk about electoral fraud and he does not declare Trump the winner. Why: Counting postal votes is legal.

Other Republicans are withdrawing from the affair in the same way. Above all, they are politicians who were formerly Trump opponents or who hold senior positions and have not yet given up on their careers. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was not uncommon for someone to declare themselves the winner of an election, as Trump did, albeit recklessly. But: “Claiming to have won the election is different from finishing the count.”

Republican writes to Trump: “Stop it!”

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, considered a Trump critic, was even clearer: “The fact that it takes days to count legally cast votes is NOT a fraud,” he tweeted.

Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, also urged more patience until there was a reliable result. It is important to give election officials time to do their jobs. It is important to admit and count all the votes submitted legally. Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger tweeted directly to the president: “Stop it. Period,” he tweeted. “The votes will be counted and you will win or lose”.

Donald Trump’s confidants are also trying to distance themselves from the lies of the president of the United States. “His attack on the election is a bad strategic decision that you would not expect from someone in office,” said Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey. Trump’s remarks are glaring, outrageous, and a terrible mistake, Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan of the Washington Post said.

Trump still has some supporters

There are strategic reasons why he is becoming lonely with Trump. In case of defeat, the party must reposition itself. So for many Republicans, it’s also about damage control and their own future.

All votes are counted: the United States and the world are eagerly awaiting a decision in the US presidential election. (Source: AP / dpa)

On the other hand, Trump has a very loyal base of support in the increasingly radicalized population. It is thanks to them that Trump has won more votes in the US elections than many pundits expected. Also, there are some prominent Republicans who still jump to the side of the incumbent president.

“I tell you, the president is angry and I am angry and the voters should be angry,” Senator Ted Cruz told Fox News. Cruz says the Pennsylvania judiciary has ordered them to count “until Biden wins,” which is a lie.

Trump’s son talks about “total war”

There are also prominent Republicans in the US Senate who support Trump, such as the chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Lindsey Graham. It has donated half a million dollars to the Legal Aid Fund, which will be used to fund disputes against the election results. Trump’s former spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders was also convinced that her former boss would be the “leader of this party,” whatever the outcome.

The president of the United States also gets the support of his family. Donald Trump Jr. has invited his father on Twitter to start an “all-out war” over the election. It must “expose all fraud and deceit”.

A defeat would be bitter for Trump’s family in several ways: if there was only one term, the chances of Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., for example, of playing a decisive role in the Republican Party in the future would be reduced. This also explains the impulsive reactions. “Apparently Donald Trump’s family is so disappointed because they probably planned to do what the Kennedys, Clintons or Bushes managed to do,” FDP foreign policy expert Alexander Graf Lambsdorff told ZDF “Morgenmagazin”.

Courts reject Trump camp lawsuits

At least legally, Trump’s allegations are not exposed. Courts in Nevada, Georgia and Michigan have already filed lawsuits for his team. The count continues in Georgia.

Joe Biden is on the verge of winning the US presidential election and entering the White House. You can find the current status here.

Then Trump could end up as a US president who, in his madness of lies and false claims, has lost many of his political friends. For many there was no alternative to jumping from the “Trumptanic”.