New York Post editorial implores Donald Trump to stop election ‘insanity’

A newspaper which endorsed Donald Trump before the election has now published a stunning editorial urging him to stop the “insanity”.

One of Donald Trump’s favourite newspapers, The New York Post, has implored him to “stop the insanity” and move on from his election defeat in a blunt editorial.

The Post is one of the four major papers in New York, where the President has spent the vast majority of his life – the others being The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The New York Daily News.

It was one of the few high profile publications to endorse Mr Trump over Joe Biden ahead of the election on November 3, arguing four more years of the Trump administration would be “the best choice” for the country.

That was a while ago now.

Almost two months have passed since the election. Dozens of lawsuits challenging the result have been thrown out of court. And the electoral college has voted, officially confirming Mr Biden’s victory.

Still, the President has not accepted his loss. He continues to post baseless claims about widespread fraud on social media, and to insist he could remain in office past Inauguration Day on January 20.

In its editorial today, The New York Post’s editorial board spoke directly to Mr Trump. It urged him to cease his efforts to overturn the result, and instead refocus on the upcoming Senate elections in Georgia, which have significant ramifications for the next two years.

This was the paper’s unambiguous front page.

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Today's New York Post front page. Picture: NY Post

“Mr President, it’s time to end this dark charade,” the editorial board said.

“We’re one week away from an enormously important moment for the next four years of our country. On January 5, two runoff races in Georgia will determine which party will control the Senate – whether Joe Biden will have a rubber stamp of a much-needed check on his agenda.”

The two runoff elections are necessary because no Senate candidate in Georgia received a majority of the vote on November 3.

Incumbent Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are trying to fend off challenges from Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

As things stand, the Republicans have 50 confirmed senators heading into the next Congress, while the Democrats have 48. The Republicans only need one of their incumbents to win to retain control of the chamber.

However, should both Democrats win on January 5, the Senate will be split 50-50. In that scenario, incoming vice president Kamala Harris will hold the tiebreaking vote for the first two years of Mr Biden’s term, up until the midterm elections.

“Unfortunately, you’re obsessed with the next day, January 6, when Congress will, in a pro forma action, certify the electoral college vote,” The Post continued.

“You have tweeted that, as long as Republicans have ‘courage’, they can overturn the results and give you four more years in office.

“In other words, you’re cheering for an undemocratic coup.”

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“STOP THE INSANITY”
— Editorial in @nypost, one of Trump’s favorite newspapers, calling on him to stop "cheering for an undemocratic coup” and concede defeat in the election.https://t.co/RNLXrbAZt7 pic.twitter.com/kNmV5ZXKI3

— Cliff Levy (@cliffordlevy) December 28, 2020

The edit board of NYPost, the president’s favorite paper, tells him to give it up and says his encouragement that pence do something he can’t on Jan 6 is “cheering for an undemocratic coup.” pic.twitter.com/VdNMemVcKD

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 28, 2020

Some more context is needed here.

On January 6, Congress will hold a joint session to formally count the electoral votes.

Mr Trump has been pushing congressional Republicans to raise objections to the electors from key swing states he lost, in an attempt to replace them with alternative, pro-Trump electors and reverse the results.

Some Republicans are on board with this plan, so you can expect to see it play out. But they lack the numbers to succeed.

Here’s a quick rundown of the process. Any objection has to be made in writing, by at least one person from each chamber of Congress. Then the joint session is put into recess, giving the House and the Senate a chance to debate the objection separately.

After that, the two chambers hold separate votes on whether to accept the objection. To get a state’s results thrown out, both chambers must vote yes.

Hence the hopelessness of the situation for Mr Trump. The Democrats control a majority in the House, and are never going to vote to invalidate Mr Biden’s victory.

On top of that, the Republican Senate majority is currently 52-48, and it is already clear that enough Republicans would vote against an objection to deny it.

Any effort to give Mr Trump a second term is going nowhere.

Mr Trump is hoping for drama in Congress on January 6. Picture: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images/AFP

The Post also addressed the merits of the President’s fraud claims, berating him for entertaining outlandish advice from conspiracy theorist lawyer Sidney Powell and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

“You had every right to investigate the election. But let’s be clear. Those efforts have found nothing,” it wrote.

“Sidney Powell is a crazy person. Michael Flynn suggesting martial law is tantamount to treason. It is shameful.

“We understand, Mr President, that you’re angry that you lost. But to continue down this road is ruinous. We offer this as a newspaper that endorsed you, that supported you: if you want to cement your influence, even set the stage for a future return, you must channel your fury into something more productive.

“Stop thinking about January 6. Start thinking about January 5.

“You came out of nowhere to win the presidency. Not an elected official, not a lawyer, not beholden to any particular faction of the swamp. You took on the elites and the media who had long lost touch with average working people. You changed politics, which is something few in American history can say.

“If Georgia falls, all that is threatened. You will leave your party out of power, less likely to listen to what you have to say or to capitalise on your successes.

“Democrats will try to write you off as a one-term aberration and, frankly, you’re helping them do it. The King Lear of Mar-a-Lago, ranting about the corruption of the world.

“If you insist on spending your final days in office threatening to burn it all down, that will be how you are remembered. Not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist holding the match.”