Trump?s loss cemented, focus turns to his legacy

What will be the lingering effects of Donald Trump’s presidential actions and his approach to politics?With the Electoral College officially affirming Joe Biden as the president-elect this week, it also officially confirmed President Donald Trump’s loss in his bid for a second term, unable to defy the political odds again as he did in 2016.After over six weeks of legal challenges and unfounded allegations of “rigged” votes and wild electoral conspiracies, the Electoral College this week cast 306 votes for Biden and 232 for Trump. The 45th president leaves office much the way he came in, in a contentious election surrounded by misinformation.Yet in an election that shattered turnout records, more than 75 million voters endorsed another four years of an establishment-bucking, norm-shattering Trump presidency.A supporter wears a “Trump 2020” hat as US President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 14, 2020 [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]“The voters wanted an outsider, they wanted real change, and what more could you ask for in change than a guy like Donald Trump?” said Henry Barbour, a longtime Republican official and operative from Mississippi. Across the country, pockets of voters who had histories of backing Republicans voted instead for Biden, ultimately giving the former vice president the electoral edge Hillary Clinton had lacked four years earlier.“His late night tweets, his calling people out, he was his own worst enemy in that regard,” said ex-Representative Dennis Ross of Florida, an early Republican backer of Trump.