In his latest affront to a responsible Covid-19 response, Donald Trump is refusing to concede the 2020 Presidential Election. On some level, we knew that Trump wouldn’t go quietly, but his failure to concede will have lasting effects on the Biden Administration’s ability to adequately prepare a Covid-19 response prior to taking office in January. Trump is enabled by many Republican lawmakers who are trying to contest the results of the election, and by the General Services Administration’s Emily Murphy, who, until recently, refused to start the transition process for President-Elect Joe Biden.
A photo of Donald Trump under a Coronavirus headline in a newspaper.
Much like any other job, Presidents need to be on-boarded. Trump’s refusal to concede makes it difficult for President-Elect Joe Biden to begin his on-boarding process, which, unlike other jobs, involves processing staff for security clearances, and transitioning from Trump’s Covid-19 response to his own. Biden has already formed a Covid-19 Advisory Board, but he is unable to receive official briefings from the Centers for Disease Control or Food and Drug Administration. These briefings would provide President-Elect Biden with critical information regarding vaccine progress and other relevant Covid-19 updates. The Biden Administration is also unable to meet with those in the Trump Administration responsible for distributing Covid-19 vaccines; this forces the Biden Administration to create their own distribution plan, which includes reaching out to major pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens to coordinate vaccine distribution without input from the current Administration.
Timing is critical for Presidential transitions - many experts on the topic point to the 2000 Election as a case study. The result of the 2000 Election was delayed by 36 days, and this delay is often cited as one of the major reasons the Bush Administration was not adequately prepared for 9/11. The 36-day delay essentially cut President Bush’s transition time in half, and, because of this, he had less time to have his national security team in place. Many are now concerned that Trump’s refusal to concede will have similarly detrimental consequences on Biden’s Covid-19 response, and will result in further loss of life.
Donald Trump and his administration have mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic response from the start - from downplaying the severity of the virus to the public, encouraging his supporters to arrive maskless to his rallies, and now, finally, to hindering the Biden Administration’s ability to adequately prepare for their Covid-19 response come January. Trump’s final, desperate effort to consolidate power will have lasting and harmful consequences for the foreseeable future.
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