UPDATE, 1420 GMT:

I spoke with Turkey’s TRT World on Monday afternoon about Donald Trump’s pressure on Georgia officials to overturn the election result, and the Republican legislators enabling his refusal of President-elect Joe Biden.

For 1/4 of the Republican Senators and 70% of the Republican Representatives to enable Trump and say the conspiracy theories and disinformation might be true — that refusal to accept Joe Biden as President is effectively assisting the arsonist as he sets fire to the American system.


UPDATE, 1330 GMT:

I joined Dublin NewsTalk’s Pat Kenny Show for further discussion about the Trumpist threat to democracy and the state of the Republican Party.

Listen to Discussion

If this was being done by a private individual, pressuring election officials to do his will for his profit, there would be criminal charges….

But all those Republican Senators and Representatives who are Trumpists will now get all the publicity and all the sound and fury to overshadow Joe Biden as he prepares to take office on January 20.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: I joined Monocle 24’s Emma Nelson on Monday to discuss two linked stories: Donald Trump’s demands that Georgia officials change the outcome of the November 3 election, and the refusal of 12 Republican Senators and more than 140 Representatives to recognize Joe Biden as President.

Listen from 12:14:

“Find the Votes”: Trump’s Hour-Long Shakedown of Georgia Officials
Pence Supports 12 GOP Senators in Refusal of President-Elect Biden

It’s not astonishing to me that Trump would do this. What is troubling are the Republican legislators who on Wednesday will enable Trump’s disinformation, his lies, and his conspiracy theories.

We now have two Republican Parties: a Republican Party of the establishment that plays by the rules, and the Trumpists who do not abide by rules and the systems and — as we have seen within the last 48 hours — will do anything to try and get their way.

We then discuss what, in the face of this challenge, the Biden Administration must do to ensure responsible and effective leadership amid the Coronavirus pandemic, the economic consequences, climate change, and social issues raised by last summer’s marches.