Cultists gonna cult

Tens of thousands of supporters of Donald Trump descended on Washington, D.C., on Saturday for a "Million MAGA March," claiming falsely that the president did not lose the election to President-elect Joe Biden. Carrying American flags and Trump banners, demonstrators chanted "Stop the steal" and "Four more years," and cheered wildly as Trump's motorcade drove past them on its way to his resort for a day of golfing.

• — Social media posts showed people holding signs that said, "Arrest Fauci" or QAnon slogans. Some wore T-shirts praising 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who has been charged with murder for allegedly killing two people during a Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin. Other footage showed a person carrying a sign that read, "Coming for Blacks and Indians first. Welcome to the new world order."
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• — Among those in attendance were far-right radio host Alex Jones, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, and QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was recently elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Proud Boys, a far-right extremist men's organization, were filmed marching alongside Jones.
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• — As the evening wore on, tensions rose between Trump supporters and counter-protesters who showed up to taunt them. Some counter-protesters lit Trump flags and hats on fire, and a Trump supporter swung at a counter-protester with a pipe after they made fun of their MAGA hat. Police broke up a number of skirmishes, deployed a chemical agent, and made several arrests. —The Washington Post

'I WON THE ELECTION'

Uh, no. He didn't. But Donald Trump still wants people to think he did, tweeting last night that he won the race that was declared for President-elect Joe Biden more than a week ago. He did this despite the fact that 16 assistant U.S. attorneys assigned to monitor malfeasance in the 2020 election declared they have not seen evidence of any substantial anomalies. Even the lawyers who fought for both sides in the 2000 Bush v. Gore case before the Supreme Court—which played a major role in deciding that election—say Trump does not have a valid argument to overturn the results. —CBS News

• — The Twilight Zone. Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, claimed yesterday that the presidential election would be "overturned," saying on Fox News, "We have proof that I can’t disclose yet." He also repeated false claims that GOP observers weren't allowed at vote-counting sites, and baselessly said Democratic strongholds including Detroit and Philadelphia were rife with election fraud. —New York Daily News
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• — A manufactured crisis in Pennsylvania. The secretary of state in the battleground state of Pennsylvania will not call for a recount, as Trump has lost six rulings there so far and scaled back a suit regarding election observers in Philadelphia. Still, the bigger strategy, highly unlikely to happen, was always to rely on the state's Republican legislature to overturn the will of the people by seating Trump electors. —CNN
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• — More Republicans push Trump. GOP Govs. Mike DeWine of Ohio and Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas are both pushing the administration to begin the transition process with Biden. Out of spite, Trump is now floating an Ohio primary fight against DeWine because he saw a TV report that featured DeWine saying, "Joe Biden is the president-elect." —Business Insider

MORE: David Frum: There is no Trumpism without Trump —The Atlantic

Friedman: Why we're failing at the pandemic

"The United States—with its diversified economy, cutting-edge scientific innovation, and numerous other resilience-oriented attributes—might have been expected to cope particularly well with a pandemic. But COVID-19 has exposed the country's vulnerabilities: all-encompassing political polarization; debilitating economic and healthcare inequality; a president who has downplayed the threat of the virus and rejected scientific guidance; a decades-long drive to optimize the economy and society for efficiency, not resilience; and a national creed of individualism, optimism, and exceptionalism that has rendered the U.S. resistant to learning from other countries." —Uri Friedman in The Atlantic

Uri Friedman is the managing editor at the Atlantic Council. He was previously the global editor at The Atlantic, and the deputy managing editor at Foreign Policy.

MORE: US coronavirus cases surpass 11 million as surge continues —ABC News

The Trump machine turns on Fox News

Fox News has arguably been one of Donald Trump's biggest and most consistent boosters for the past five years. Yet, some Trump supporters marching in Washington over the weekend were chanting derisive slogans about the conservative news network, and Trump himself has been tweeting negative comments about the network since its news division has been reporting the truth—that Trump lost the election. Is there more to it?

• — Yes, there appears to be. Allies of Trump have been exploring ways to compete with Fox News for the last two years. Hicks Equity Partners, a private-equity firm with connections to a co-chair of the Republican National Committee, have been in discussions in recent months about investing in Fox competitor Newsmax.
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• — Trump's relationship with Fox has been complicated. The Trump campaign has especially had it out for Fox since Election Night, when it called Arizona for President-elect Joe Biden and later projected Biden the winner of the presidential contest. Since that night, Newsmax has experienced a 156% increase in viewership.
   
• — However, Newsmax Media Chief Executive Chris Ruddy denies reports of any deals with Trump allies. "Newsmax never had any deal with the Hicks group, and if it’s true they were using our name for the purposes of capital fundraising, that is wholly inappropriate," Ruddy said. —The Hill

Rubin: The media has work to do

"Mainstream media needs to do a much better job denying a platform to irrational voices who operate in a fact-free world. Republicans need to police not only their own fellow Republicans but also the right-wing media that helps to radicalize their base and makes its viewers paranoid, ill-informed, and angry. And Fox News needs to decide if it wants to be a news organization with opinion shows or a disinformation machine that tears at the fabric of our democracy." —Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin is an opinion columnist covering politics and policy, foreign and domestic.

Global roundup

The interim president of Peru, Manuel Merino, resigned yesterday, after just five days in office, amid nationwide fury over a brutally heavy-handed police clampdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in the country. Merino was appointed after the Peruvian Congress impeached former President Martin Vizcarra over corruption allegations. The impeachment sparked deadly protests, with protesters calling Vizcarra's ouster a legislative coup and refusing to recognize Merino as the new president. —CNN

• — Belarus. At least 1,000 protesters were detained across Belarus yesterday as they demonstrated for the 14th consecutive week against longstanding leader Alexander Lukashenko. Protesters say the country’s August election, which Lukashenko purportedly won, was rigged, and they are demanding the resignation of Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for 26 years. —CNN
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• — Ethiopia. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government said today that it had captured another town in the northern region of Tigray, after nearly two weeks of fighting in a conflict that has spilled into Eritrea and destabilized the wider Horn of Africa. Hundreds have died, at least 20,000 refugees have fled to Sudan, and there have been reports of atrocities since Abiy ordered airstrikes and a ground offensive against Tigray's rulers for defying his authority. —CNN
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• — Moldova. Maia Sandu, a former World Bank economist who favors closer ties with the European Union, has won Moldova’s presidential runoff vote, defeating the staunchly pro-Russian incumbent, Igor Dodon, with 57% of the vote. Dodon conceded after the results were published, and congratulated Sandu. "I call for calm and peace, absolutely no disturbances or protests," Dodon said. "We must not allow any destabilization of the country." Imagine that. —Al Jazeera

The Economist: How the US's allies can help Biden

"In much of the world, and nowhere more so than among America's allies, Joe Biden's victory has come as a great relief. Under his presidency there will be no more bullying and threats to leave NATO. America will stop treating the European Union as a 'foe' on trade, or its own forces stationed in South Korea as a protection racket. In place of Donald Trump's wrecking ball, Biden will offer an outstretched hand, working co-operatively on global crises, from coronavirus to climate change. ... [A]mong friends, he can seek to convert relief at renewed American engagement into stronger burden-sharing. His allies would be wise to answer that call with enthusiasm." —The Economist 

MORE: Making America decent again: Biden and the future of US human rights policy —World Politics Review

"No one who truly reveres American democracy, free and fair elections, the Constitution, the rule of law, and facts can continue to remain silent to our Outgoing Incumbent's false statements. Speak up, Republicans. Join President Bush. Your silence is increasingly embarrassing." —Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia (@McFaul)

Two can play the same game...

The Republican Party has made Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the face of the Democratic Party, even though her admittedly socialist views do not represent those of the great majority of Democratic legislators, and the Republicans know it. But they also know that screaming 'socialism' is the same as yelling 'fire' in Oliver Wendell Holmes' proverbial crowded theatre. It gets attention. And it frightens people.

So why can't the Democrats portray newly elected Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene as the new face of the Republican Party? She totes high-powered weaponry. Declines to wear a mask, even in the halls of Congress. She buys into QAnon, yet questions 9/11. She has been sanctioned for offensive posts on social media. And, oh yes, Donald Trump has called her his favorite word...a winner!

So now's the time to make every Republican legislator own a little piece of the newly notorious MTG. Hey, Rob Portman, what do you think? Susan Collins, what's your take? Kevin McCarthy? Steve Scalise? Lindsey Graham...forget it: Lindsey Graham checked his courage and character into a locker at the airport long ago.

I'm no liberal Democrat, but I'd rather link up with a climate change advocate than someone who called George Soros a Nazi. —Jim V., New York

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