Having lost reelection, President Donald Trump is following every page of the Despots' Playbook. He's lying with abandon about the integrity of the nation's electoral system, promoting wild conspiracy theories, slandering tireless election workers and vilifying dedicated public servants of both parties. He has sent his attorney general/enforcer, William Barr, to meddle in state election issues, violating the federalism Republicans are supposed to revere. He is purging the few remaining independent voices in his government and replacing them with loyalists — a telling exercise for an administration that's supposed to close shop in fewer than 70 days.

Trump has ordered his people to withhold resources and cooperation from President-elect Joe Biden's staff for the peaceful transfer of power, an American hallmark that would usually be well underway by now. Trump is proceeding with plans for a budget release in February, the month after he's supposed to be gone.

On Tuesday — when it was already clear Trump had no mathematical path to victory — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo nonetheless told reporters there would be "a smooth transition to a second Trump administration."

In short, Trump and his minions are pretending he won an election that he clearly has lost. Which is what aspiring despots do. Congressional Republicans have an obligation to stand up for the norms Trump is trampling. Instead, as usual, they are enabling his self-serving antics, trying to paint everything he's doing as justified and normal.

It's neither.

Within days after the 2016 election, Trump had received private and public concessions from Hillary Clinton and a gracious reception at the White House from then-President Barack Obama — this despite Trump having lost the popular vote while winning the battleground states by slimmer margins than Biden won them last week. Democrats that year were rightly angry about losing the presidency when almost 3 million more Americans voted for Clinton, but no one suggested Trump shouldn't take office. The transition of power was timely and smooth. Trump now refuses to show that kind of respect for the process, let alone any semblance of class.

With false statements flying, it's important to review some incontrovertible facts:

— This wasn't a close election. Biden's popular-vote win was overwhelming and his electoral-vote win, decisive. The still-uncounted ballots aren't enough to change that, even if Trump won them all.

— There has been no evidence offered — zero — of significant election fraud, which is why Trump's multiple court challenges keep getting thrown out. A president babbling about conspiracies is one thing, but judges tend to want proof.

Guardrails like that have held so far, but no one should diminish what's happening here: The most powerful person in the world is testing the boundaries in a desperate bid to avoid relinquishing power. The longer Republicans humor him, the more dangerous that test becomes.

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