“Mr. President … STOP THE INSANITY,” read the front page of the tabloid, famous for bizarre headlines. “You lost the election – here’s how to save your legacy.”
“Mr. President, it’s time to put an end to this dark puppet show,” wrote the Post’s editors. “You welcome an undemocratic coup d’état.”
Fox News, owned by Murdoch’s Fox Corp., has acknowledged that Biden is the president-elect, despite Trump’s defense of refusal to give in by the prime-time hosts.
And to the Post itself, Lieutenant Colonel Allan van Murdoch confirmed that he will retire in 2021. Allan was instrumental in pushing the Post in a pro-Trump direction. For example, last summer CNN reported that Allan had ordered the removal of a story about an allegation of sexual assault by Trump.
But the new editorial was notable for its sharply worded rejection of Trump’s disinformation campaign about the election results and its multi-faceted, sweeping effort to stay in power.
The Post criticized Trump for undermining election results long after his legal team found nothing to substantiate widespread electoral fraud that would have tipped the scales in Biden’s favor. The newspaper called Trump election attorney Sidney Powell “ crazy, ” and it also said that former Trump NSA director Michael Flynn was treacherous for his suggestion that Trump would impose martial law.
“We understand, Mr. President, that you are angry because you lost. But to continue on this path is disastrous. We offer this as a newspaper that supported you, that supported you: if you want to amplify your influence, set the stage for a future return, you have to channel your anger into something more productive. “
The editorial insisted that Trump would use his remaining days in office fighting for Republicans to win the second Senate election in Georgia or Democrats would gain control of both chambers of the legislature. The Post not only prevented Democrats from enacting laws and regulations that Republicans detest, but also noted that a Democratic Senate could threaten the president’s legacy. Republicans would lick their wounds and be less likely to listen to Trump, the Post said.
“Democrats will try to write you off as a one-time anomaly, and frankly, you help them do that,” the editorial wrote. “The King Lear of Mar-a-Lago, raved about the corruption of the world.”
‘If you insist on spending your last days in office and threatening to burn everything down, you will be remembered in that way. Not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist holding the match. ‘