Many may recall watching the 2020 election results intently, monitoring every nuance as the candidates were neck-and-neck. After days of waiting, Joe Biden’s supporters rejoiced as he claimed the last electoral votes needed to declare victory. However, after the race was called, incumbent Donald Trump refused to acknowledge the results and pursued lawsuits in various states under the suspicion of voter fraud. Across the country, Americans are reacting to this bizarre time. Many worry that Trump is abusing his executive power.

“It’s very dangerous for him to not concede, and I do not think he is justified. In other circumstances, it would be, but he’d stated before that he never planned on conceding and it’s kind of suspicious,” Jessica Carroll (11) said.

While reflecting on Trump’s previous handling of COVID-19 specifically, some have expressed concerns about how the President will treat the pandemic during his remaining months in office.

“I think that right now, because of the holidays, there is a spike and that will not go away, and I don’t think he’s going to care about upcoming covid precautions and that’s kind of dangerous,”Carroll said.

Along with the common feeling of anxiety for the state of the country, some are analyzing the effects of these events on news and media. Some believe that Trump has the right to contest the results, and the continual reporting on the topic is drowning out other important events taking place right now.

“It’s a bit childish to stretch it out, if he truly thought voter fraud was amok, it’s justified in my eyes,” Blake Shirley (11) said. “A fair election is warranted, of course. The media is being affected by the inundation of articles talking about the same thing, other actual news that gets out is watered down.”

Others take another perspective on the effects on the media, addressing the President’s actions with disdain as a result of the spread of misinformation by his hand.

“He doesn’t really think before he speaks, and as you can see on his Twitter, he’s very outspoken,” Marry Adams (10) said.  “When people report on that, it’s kind of hard to know what to trust and what not to trust, and it’s very misleading, especially when he says everything that’s on his mind.”

Americans and students alike have shown anticipation regarding the state of the country at this time. While unsure of what is to come with the Biden administration, Adams surmises that the future president will have a rocky entrance.

“Since people are still denying that Biden won,” Adams said. “I feel like Trump leading the narrative that he still has a chance of winning, early on in Biden’s presidency, people might not believe in what [Biden] says or they’re not exactly gonna follow what he says.”