Former President Biden had something that Donald Trump does not have, nor will ever have — an election in which he won the majority of the vote. Trump has no mandate — in three chances, he never managed to win 50 percent of the vote. Not once did he win a simple majority of the voting public. Nor did Trump help sweep Republicans into power either here or across the country. Democrats won every meaningful race in North Carolina (including at the N.C. Supreme Court).

At the federal level, Republicans have a historically small advantage in the House and Senate. And who is Trump actually trying to bring into his next administration? It is mostly a parade of predators and bootlickers. Thirteen are billionaires. For someone who ran on addressing issues that the middle and lower classes are struggling with, billionaires won’t help. This administration will be run by and for the ultra-wealthy. Billionaires like Elon Musk, who spent more than quarter of a billion dollars tipping the scales of the election, will be looking for a return on their investment.

As economic inequality has soared over the last few decades, those at the low and middle income brackets have seen stagnant or marginally increasing incomes while top earners — like those in this new administration — have soared. Democratic senators like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have fought much of their careers trying to reduce inequality. Trump is bringing the foxes in to rule the henhouse. No wonder he is kicking out all the independent inspector generals.

— Andrew Jacobson
Salisbury