The Final American President

Yesterday was a rather surreal moment in American history, as Congress certified President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory in a smooth and orderly process, marking the final two weeks until Trump is sworn in as the 47^th president.

This smooth and orderly process included Vice President Harris, who lost the presidential election to Trump, overseeing the proceedings certifying Trump’s win and announcing the final tally: 312 electoral votes to 226.

All of this was in stark contrast to four years ago when on January 6^th, 2021, more than two thousand Trump supporters breached security barriers at the U.S. Capitol and stormed the building to try to overturn the 2020 election results.

Some of those people also, if you recall, chanted “Hang Mike Pence” as they roamed the halls of the Capitol and looked for members of Congress. That day shocked the nation, and Trump himself was widely considered as politically dead even by many on the right.

It turns out, though, that a lot can change in four years, and Trump wasn’t politically dead after all. Instead, his comeback is now almost complete, and he’s just a couple of weeks away from officially retaking the White House.

And that’s what makes January 6^th, 2021, so remarkable, as it could be the best example of Trump’s ability to turn everything upside down – even our memories.

For example, the percentage of republicans who strongly disapproved of the January 6 attack has dropped more than 20 points since January 2021 – from 51% then to just 30% now. To millions of Americans, the attack on the Capitol was justified.

For his part, Trump has characterized the attack on the Capitol on January 6^th as “a day of love” – which to Trump, of course, it really was a day of love because HE was the center of love from his supporters. And that’s all that matters in his eyes.

But all of this speaks to the power of Trump’s chaos. Reality and truth are not as important as Trump’s reality and truth. He refers to things that are true as fake news, calls his own enemies evil, and he even redefines the past in his own terms.

Yesterday, without a shred of irony, Trump posted on Truth Social that Biden was making his transition more difficult. It’s as if the events of January 6^th, 2021, never happened at all. Trump has truly turned everything upside down.

Two weeks from now, however, Trump takes back power and he’ll be able to turn as many things upside down as he desires. He has already said that he plans to be a dictator for one day, which means we should expect to see dozens and dozens of executive orders.

The truth is, however, that there is simply no reason to think that Trump will stop acting like a dictator on day two. He has a long history of admiring strongmen all around the world, and he now has yet another chance to be just like them.

Add in the fact that everything keeps lining up for Trump to get away with whatever he wants, which is precisely how the Bible describes the Antichrist: The King will do whatever he pleases.

And that’s where we are now: less than two weeks away from the swearing in of the Final American President. ♦