There are at least three approaches when dealing with a child who is having a temper tantrum: ignore them and go about your business, yell at them for having the temper tantrum, or justify their behavior.

Right now, the lame duck president is having a temper tantrum because he lost the election and is claiming he really won but it was taken away from him due to massive voter fraud.

Many Trump critics and those in the media are up in arms because of what the president is saying and his inability to even allow the transition team to have access to important information or to members in the administration. They say that it is hurting the country because it affects the ability of the new Biden administration to come in on January 20, 2021, and be able to run the country properly on day one and it also hurts America’s standing in the world.

A second group, which includes some elected officials and many Trumpians who cannot accept defeat, egg the president on by giving oxygen to his baseless fraud claims.

Biden has decided to take the first approach in dealing with Trump’s temper tantrum. The president elect is ignoring the noise and whatever obstacles that the lame duck tries put in his way to stop him from being prepared to assume the office of the presidency.

Biden has already started getting his staff together. He also sent the message that dealing with the coronavirus is the most important issue on his agenda. This is the correct approach. Although here in New York City we are nowhere near the levels we were months ago, the rest of the country is not so lucky. There has been a 70% spike in reported new cases, with the highest daily amount ever reported, and the greatest number of people who have been hospitalized.

Since the president-elect has many years of institutional knowledge and has just finished being vice president only four years ago, he can deal with issues even without receiving data from the current administration.

Furthermore, Trump’s history of firing so many people, including those within the past few days, gives the incoming Biden administration plenty of people who can give them relatively current information concerning many issues that are not publicly discussed.

Foreign leaders have already reached out to Biden to congratulate him on winning the presidency. It should not come as any surprise that the only major world leader who has not congratulated Biden is Vladimir Putin. I guess Putin’s candidate cannot win every election.

Trump’s fraud claims are being debunked in many ways. The joint statement from Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees concluded, “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” “While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too.”

Also, the elected officials of the disputed states, including those with Republican officials, have denied any claims of widespread fraud. Georgia is being subjected to a hand recount. By the time this article is published, the recount will be completed, and the result will not change.

The most significant part of destroying the claims of mass fraud is what is occurring in the courts. You know things are not going to well when the attorney in charge of this process is Rudy Giuliani instead of attorneys who have experience in election law. Furthermore, the Trump team’s record in court is not much better than the New York Jets’ record in the National Football League. It is only a matter of time before the legal challenges are done. This should quiet the Trumpians who claim fraud. Unfortunately, people hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest.

The president-elect is biding his time because he knows that in the end there is nothing that the lame duck can do to stop him from becoming president.

Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.