Trump should have his day in court – it’s the only way to stop the dangerous election myths he is peddling

Without a thorough, exhaustive examination and (inevitable) rejection of the president’s claims they will live on as conspiracy theory

Donald Trump is a very annoying, childish man utterly unsuited to the job he was elected to four years ago. In case you’d not noticed, that is. 

Still, democracy is a wonderful thing and now America, albeit by a surprisingly small margin in some states at least, has voted to fire him.

True to form, he refuses to accept reality. With a certain cunning he has for many months been preparing his case that the election would be “stolen”, just in case he lost. Now he is deploying it – mainly via Twitter – in a last desperate attempt to hang on despite the odds. Or, more likely, at least “prove” to his base that the 2020 election was the greatest election fraud in history. 

It’s embarrassing, as President-elect Joe Biden says, and it is damaging America’s interests by messing up the transition. But Trump has to be allowed to exercise his rights to a hearing. If not the myth that he never lost will never go away. 

It’s better in the long run he loses, loses and loses again, openly in proper legal process, in state after state, courtroom after courtroom, rather than just declaring the election stolen and letting Biden get on with it. Trump is wrong, but he has to be seen to be wrong.

So it’s great that even now he is still trying to take his case to court, appealing for evidence, looking for eye witnesses, searching for affidavits, cajoling state officials, combing the CCTV, spreading conspiracy theories about voting machinery or software hacking, and generally cobbling together whatever he can find to prove malfeasance. He’s selected Rudi Giuliani to prove the suppositions, and with his legal audacity, they’ll find some way to make something out of not much.

Good. Each and every court the Trump campaign goes to and fails to convince is another argument, another piece of evidence, ironically, that proves the opposite, and demonstrates that Trump actually lost, fair and square.

Every bit of evidence that is debunked and every claim proved false is a victory for democracy, because the only person trying to steal this  election and disprove the truth is Trump. Let him have all the recounts he wants, all the observers, all the ferocious scrutiny he demands. The state and county authorities have nothing to hide from Trump or anyone else. He can visit himself he likes.

Without such a thorough, exhaustive examination and (inevitable) rejection of Trump’s claims they will live on as conspiracy theory.

Admittedly, of course there will always be those, encouraged by Trump, to believe that all the judges were in on it, up to and including the Supreme Court. “Fake courts” may join “fake news” and “fake polls” in the distorted landscape of Trumpland. 

Like the folk who believe the moon landings were staged or that coronavirus is a hoax, there will be many members of the cult of Trump who will never believe he lost simply because Biden got more votes. But the more Trump’s fantasies are indulged and patiently refuted, the less hold they will have on people's consciousness.

There’s no doubt that Barack Obama is right when he points up the collateral damage Trump is inflicting on American society simply because he cannot bear to hold the shame of “loser” - and especially loser to someone he derided so much as “sleepy” Biden. 

“Imagine losing to that guy” he asked a crowd at one of his last rallies. Indeed so. But imagine too the damage to democracy if millions of Americans are allowed to persist in the belief that this election - and therefore every other election - is inherently corrupt. 

Let Trump have his day - many days - in court.