This is a coup: Mike Pompeo claims there will be a smooth transition—to a second Trump term

Donald Trump has spent the last several days refusing to accept the results of the 2020 Presidential elections. It appears Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has joined in on Trump's temper tantrum. At a press conference, when asked if he believed there would be a smooth transition to a Biden Presidency, he responded by stating that there would be a smooth transition—only to a second Trump administration. While this may have made supporters of the 45th President immensely happy, it has concerned American citizens who believe in fair and free elections, CNN reports.

Pompeo's statement was made during a press conference with the State Department. "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," he affirmed, adding, "We’re going to count all the votes. The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today, successful today, and successful when the president who’s in office on January 20." This sounds to many political analysts like a coup: the sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government. Though his Democratic opponent Joe Biden secured 270 electoral college votes on Saturday, thus securing his rightful seat at the White House, Trump has reiterated on numerous occasions the false prevalence of voter fraud in the United States.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that his cronies would simply parrot his words. Pompeo repeated at the press conference, "We must count every legal vote. We will get it right, we are in good shape." States, however, have already gotten it "right." Pompeo is only one of many Trump administration officials to insist in public that the elections were not over. Current Vice President Mike Pence did the same soon after the results were first announced. Attorney General William Barr also joined the motley crew, instructing prosecutors to look into “substantial” allegations of "irregularities" and widespread voter fraud. Trump already has plans to carry forward his coup using legal means. He has assembled a legal team to fight the results of the election in several states across the country.

This, nonetheless, does not mean the courts are interested in hearing his case. Judges across the bench have been quick to dismiss cases that attempt to raise the possibility of voting irregularities. On similar lines, political experts have pointed out that Biden's margin of victory was too large to be entirely based on such "irregularities." They have noted that this is Trump's last-ditch efforts to keep control of the White House. Ben Ginsberg, a longtime Republican elections lawyer, stated, "This is the sort of desperation, throw the kitchen sink at the wall and see what sticks strategy." It is unlikely that anything will stick.

In the meanwhile, congratulations have flown in for Biden from leaders of various countries across the world. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with the President-elect on Monday. A statement regarding the call reads, "The Prime Minister and the President-elect agreed on the importance of the unique Canada-US partnership and committed to work together to fight the global pandemic and to support a sustainable economic recovery in both countries and the hemisphere." It seems as if normalcy has finally been restored to American democracy—bar the orange trying to delegitimize it.