In June 2020, the 45th President of the United States felt the need to reassure the country that he would, in fact, leave office if he lost the election. It was an extraordinary statement, an acknowledgment perhaps of the deep distrust many Americans have toward him.

I didn’t believe him.

I didn’t believe that our insecure, inept, impotent “leader,” the one who fawns over North Korea’s “Dear Leader”, who shrinks in the presence of Putin’s perceived power, and who has publicly “joked” multiple times and in multiple ways about his desire to extend his presidency, had suddenly given up his delusions of dictatorship.

Nope…I wasn’t buying it.

So I wasn’t surprised to learn that in a bizarre interview with Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, the president walked back his previous statement. When pressed about his acceptance of results from the 2020 Presidential election, the current occupant refused to commit, saying it was “too early to make such an ironclad guarantee” that he would uphold our peaceful power transition tradition, a hallmark of the United States’ version of democracy.

It’s not surprising that this president who has never behaved as if he cares about Americans, who has dismantled many government offices (like the National Security office responsible for pandemic preparedness) and who has supported removal of regulations that would protect individuals, would refuse to uphold American traditions like the right to peaceful protest.

I can’t even say I’ve been surprised by the on-the-ground reports from Portland that the secret forces deployed against peaceful demonstrators have instigated the violence.

And I certainly wasn’t surprised when he repeated his unsubstantiated theory of the “danger” of voting by mail as a reason to delay the November election.

He has diminished the leadership of the United States on the global stage and his lack of leadership during the pandemic has resulted in deaths of thousands of U.S. citizens, deepened the distrust toward the U.S. government and led to the destruction of the economy.

Now, even as he acknowledges the deep dislike Americans have for him, and in anticipation of losing his power, he is increasing his rhetoric to sow seeds of doubt about our own election process.

He has to go. And everything this president has done indicates his departure will be disruptive, divisive…even destructive to our democracy. We must be ready.