The 2020 ‘stolen election’ obsession: Cynical? Delusional? Reptilian?

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/18/trump-election-stolen-biden/

Trump believes his losing at anything is impossible. Thus, Biden’s win must be fraudulent.

Donald Trump’s belief in widespread fraud in the casting and counting of 2020 ballots is entailed by his belief that it is theoretically impossible for him to lose at anything. His certitude infects millions of Americans, some of whom think it inconceivable that he could ever be mistaken. Others doubt that anyone could win the presidency while obsessing about a complex conspiracy for which there is no evidence.

It would be reassuring to think that Trump believes nothing he says about 2020: Cynicism in the presidency is less disturbing than delusion. But reassurance is not plausible. As the poet William Blake wrote, “The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.”