Aftermath

It's been a week since the change of administration in the United States of America. Newly elected President Joe Biden has had a busy week, to say the least. He signed a flurry of executive orders to reverse many of Trump's policies in one go as he faces down the greatest crisis America has faced in recent history. One of the things that did not need fixing, as it turned out, was the Trump administrations vaccine distribution plan. This was because, as the Biden administration revealed, there was really no plan to speak of. Chief of Staff Ron Klain stated the Trump administration had no distribution plan beyond nursing homes and hospitals to get the vaccine out to the wider community. Many of Biden's initial executive orders have been aimed at filling in this gap as swiftly as possible. He has announced plans to partner up with state and local governments to establish community vaccination spots while also deploying medical staff to train non-medical volunteers to administer the vaccine shots.

The revelation of a non-existent vaccine plan is not the only sordid revelation to come out to the public following the exit of Trump. NIAID Director and chief medical advisor to President Biden, Anthony Fauci has had much to say in the last week regarding his experience of serving the Trump administration. Fauci, a veteran medical advisor who has stood beside seven administrations explained in a New York Times interview why 2020 was a year unlike any other he remembered. Among other things he revealed details of how he realised early on that Trump was not actually interested in Fauci's assessment of the growing pandemic but rather expressed his wish for the assessment to have minimised risk and a 'positive' spin that would allow Trump to justify his initial hands-off approach to handling the virus. Fauci has also stated that Trump had an unfortunate tendency to take 'medical advice' from decidedly non-medical sources like his friends, business owners he knew and sometimes random people who called him. He seemed to willing to take their advice about as seriously as Fauci's based on zero evidence. But what truly shocked Fauci was the pushback he received for contradicting the President or not affirming false statements he made. Fauci recalled many furious calls from Trump advisor Peter Navarro over contradicting the President on his claims of hydroxychloroquine working as effective drug therapy for alleviating Covid symptoms. Many others expressed anger over what they perceived as overt attempts to contradict the President in front of the press. Then there was Trump itself who frequently expressed disappointment that Fauci was not willing to brighten up and give a positive spin to the escalating pandemic. But if Trump's response was relatively moderate, the response of his support base is anything but. Fauci was sent multiple death threats as Trump supporters called for him to be fired or held responsible for his unspecified 'failures'. Fauci recalled that even Trump, his administration and members of his own family catching the virus was not enough for Trump to finally heed Fauci or follow a scientific approach to combatting the pandemic. ures'. Even Trump, his administration and his family's close brush with the virus was not enough for Trump to heed the science and ask Fauci for advice.

Apparently, Trump has been watching these series of Fauci interviews that express relief at working under the Biden administration, with an increasing sense of frustration. Sources close to Trump say he is concerned that his legacy will be maliciously besmirched now that he is out of office. At this moment, Trump appears to be trying to make good on his promise to continue working on his agenda post his exit from the Whitehouse. It was announced that he has opened up an office in Florida that will handle his duties as a former US President while also furthering the agenda of his administration. It would appear as though his first agenda is to keep the Republican Party under control as Trump's second impeachment trial begins. His primary method? Threatening to form a new, third party that would split the Republican vote bank. He has apparently vowed to go after the seat of every Republican who was disloyal to him in recent times. The threat appears to be working. Even after Trump distanced himself from any news of the formation of this 'Patriot Party', many Republicans have now come out against the upcoming impeachment. Many of them claim that the trial is a waste of time because Trump is no longer in office and that it would further divide the nation. It is worth noting that the US Supreme Court also pulled the plug on several anti-corruption cases that they held as moot because Trump was no longer in office. The state attorney generals that filled these cases have come out with a joint statement that claims that the US Justice Departement under Trump went to extreme lengths to hide corruption in the administration. And so, what happens now? Does Trump get to ride scot-free into the sunset? Does he get to pursue his political agendas outside of the office and maintain a steady grasp on Republican voters? There is no clear assurance that justice will be done but there is an urgency that something must be done. If Trump and his collaborators are allowed to leave with only a tarnished legacy and no real punishment, what stops any administration from doing the same? This cannot be boiled down to just the fate of the Republican Party in the post-Trump era. For the sake of US democracy, Republicans must bite the bullet and convict Trump.