This Dog Won’t Hunt [OPINION]

“It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, see each other again, listen to each other again. And to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies. They are not our enemies. They are Americans," said Joe Biden on Saturday night. Biden is calling for America to unify behind him.

Biden sees himself as president-elect even as ballots are still being counted, and court challenges loom.

Donald J. Trump called for unity four years ago after defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton following a bitterly divisive campaign. Many Democrats boycotted his inauguration. They immediately called him an illegitimate president and pledged to resist his every effort to Make America Great Again. During that campaign, Clinton referred to Trump supporters as "deplorables."

What followed was an unprecedented effort to use the U.S. Justice Department to prevent Trump from taking office, and when he did take office, to have him removed. The Democrats staged a phony impeachment of Trump at a time when COVID-19 was about to open the gates of hell on the American people. They called him "racist" and "xenophobic" when he imposed travel restrictions to keep infected people from traveling to American.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up President Trump's State of the Union speech in a real show of unity earlier this year. Joe Biden likened Trump to a Nazi and a white supremacist. Biden blamed Trump personally for all of the deaths related to the virus and recently called Trump's supporters "chumps."

For four solid years, Biden and his Democrat Party hounded, harassed, ridiculed, and resisted Trump at every turn. Trump's supporters were assaulted, harassed, and belittled. And now Biden calls for unity.

Mr. Biden, you may or may not be the 46th president of the United States – we'll know soon enough – but I can promise you this: 71 million Americans will never forget how you and members of your party savaged our president and divided our nation for four years. I am one of those Americans.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.