Edition · November 27, 2020
The Daily Fuckup: November 27, 2020
Trump’s post-election legal crusade took another hit in Pennsylvania, and the courts kept making the same point: no evidence, no miracle.
On November 27, 2020, the Trump operation kept losing its grip on the post-election narrative. The biggest blow was another Pennsylvania court defeat, where judges rejected the campaign’s attempt to revive its case and block certification. The broader picture was familiar by then: the legal strategy was collapsing under its own weight, while Trumpworld kept using the courts as a megaphone for claims that were not surviving contact with judges.
Closing take
By the end of the day, the Trump team’s election-hijinks-to-court-routine looked less like a comeback plan than a public demonstration of how not to overturn an election. The losses kept piling up, the rhetoric kept outrunning the filings, and the actual scoreboard stayed exactly where it had been all week: bad for Trump, good for reality.
Story
Pardon payoff
Confidence 5/5
★★★★☆Fuckup rating 4/5
Serious fuckup
The Justice Department’s pardon records show Michael Flynn received clemency on November 25, and the public blowback kept growing on November 27 as critics framed the move as a reward for loyalty and a warning shot to anyone who thought Trump’s pardon power had limits.
Open story + comments
Story
Court loss
Confidence 5/5
★★★★☆Fuckup rating 4/5
Serious fuckup
A federal appeals panel rejected the Trump campaign’s emergency effort to keep fighting Pennsylvania’s election results, leaving the president’s lawyers with another humiliating loss and almost no plausible path to undo the state’s vote certification.
Open story + comments
Story
Vaccine hype
Confidence 4/5
★★★☆☆Fuckup rating 3/5
Major mess
On Thanksgiving weekend, Trump told U.S. troops vaccine delivery would start the next week, but the pandemic was still raging and the administration’s message remained a jumble of hope, hype, and denial.
Open story + comments