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Americans Concerned About The Presidential Transfer Of Power

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Under 60 days to Inauguration Day, Donald Trump continues to sow doubt Joe Biden should be the one with his hand on the Bible January 20. It could be that he wants to illegitimize (ph) Biden's presidency in the public mind. What Trump is arguing in court, however, is plain. There, he's seeking to throw out votes, overturn results and remain president against the will of the majority of voters and what should be the majority of Electoral College electors. We'll look at that legal campaign in a few minutes, including a setback late last night in Pennsylvania. First, what this means to the American people.

JOHN MARTINO: In high school, we played football. We'd hooray for our side.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: John Martino (ph) of West Seneca, N.Y., thinks the president denying defeat is like poor sportsmanship.

MARTINO: At the end of the game, win or lose, you walk to the game. You slap each other's hand and say, good game - onto the next, even if it was a close game.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Many others NPR heard from worried a reluctant transition of power will harm the government's response to the pandemic or, like Katie Bryan (ph) of Little Rock, national security.

KATIE BRYAN: 9/11 - how they attributed some of the lack of awareness Bush had with being part of that they took so long to transition.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: NPR's Brian Naylor affirms that concern in a report we have in just a moment. So stay tuned for that. Trump supporter Bruce Hutchins (ph) of Spring Hill, Fla., says the hand-wringing, though, is unnecessary.

BRUCE HUTCHINS: Beneath the political appointees, there is interactions going on. So the bureaucratic centers of the country are still operating, and they're going to move towards a transition, which they've done every time they've had to transition.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Democrat Alberto Philippone (p) teaches U.S. history, government and economics at a high school in Lombard, Ill. He says his students have been connecting this moment with others in history, especially since they're in the middle of a unit about the Civil War. Philippone says his students are asking more questions the longer Trump stalls.

ALBERTO PHILIPPONE: And it's really difficult, you know, because there's a lot of people that feel like we shouldn't have a united transition. Forget them. Let's just go forward. And now it's our turn. And ultimately, I just don't think that that's going to do anything good. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.