Breaking a long tradition, Donald Trump and Melania Trump will leave the White House on January 20, 2021, but will not welcome Joe and Jill Biden inside before they do. What are the upsides and downsides of the Trumps taking this action?

NEGI RK Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Usually, people start with the pros, rather than the cons. I’m going to switch things up, because the downside arguably outweighs the upside.

Downside:

• Breaks long-standing tradition. Even if you don’t agree with your successor, it was almost an unspoken duty to welcome them to the White House. It was one of your final acts as President. Obama definitely didn’t agree with Trump, one of the most bigoted and racist people on the planet. But he still greeted Trump shortly before he left the White House for the final time. Because he actually respected the institution of the Presidency.

• Biden can’t keep an eye on Trump, to see if he’s trying to swipe items paid for with taxpayer money from the White House. I wish this was merely some flippant remark. But sadly, the current occupant cannot be trusted in any conceivable manner. He’s proven this time and again.

I hope Biden’s people will take stock of everything in the White House, and compare it against a manifest of items from the most recent inventory. If anything is missing that was not authorized to have been taken, find out what happened. And if applicable, charge Trump Administration officials with theft.

• The institution is perhaps irrevocably damaged. Trump has gleefully gone against our norms, laws, traditions, and Constitution. It’s part of what he ran on, and he continued this attitude of destruction throughout his disastrous term. In one final act of spite, he’s not going to meet with his successor. I do not envy Biden’s job, because the climb out of the abyss is going to be up a very uphill battle. Given the sheer damage on our standing inflicted by Trump, the task may quite likely be Sisyphean.

All that aside, there are some obvious pros-

Upside:

• Out of sight, out of mind- This is self-explanatory. Trump has been a massive and persistent pain in the ass ever since Obama came onto the scene. He spewed racist conspiracy theory after racist conspiracy theory, even though he knew them to be complete bullshit. And his crap about Hillary was almost as egregious, as were his remarks about Biden.

But with Trump fleeing to his conspicuous consumption club down in Florida, Biden’s not going to have to listen to the braying of that asshole.

• He can turn the page immediately- Perhaps the only good thing, aside from not having to see or hear from Trump, is that we can all symbolically turn the page on this clusterfuck that is the Trump Presidency. Yes, it will take generations to undo most of Trump’s damage, and some of it likely can’t be undone. But we can get started this Wednesday, and the stain that is Trump won’t be present. It’s for the best.