Judging by his behavior, Mr. Trump is unhinged from political reality. Over the weekend he phoned Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger. In a long harangue, Mr. Trump suggested that 300,000 ballots were faked, that 3,000 pounds of ballots were shredded, and that technicians on Dominion voting systems “moved the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts.” Mr. Trump seems really to believe it. “There’s no way I lost Georgia,” he said. “There’s no way.”

But in the words of his esteemed predecessor John Adams, facts are stubborn things. Mr. Biden has secured a majority of certified electors. Even flipping Georgia wouldn’t change the Electoral College outcome. The Constitution fixes the presidential inauguration at Jan. 20, making impossible any scheme for a pre-inaugural electoral commission, even if that weren’t a bad idea. The transition of power is moving forward, and it doesn’t need Mr. Trump’s concession.

“Mike Pence is a man of honor, character and honesty,” Mr. Trump said in 2016, as he introduced his running mate for the first time. The selection probably reassured some Republican voters that Mr. Trump, the brash New York billionaire and ex-Democrat, would support traditional GOP priorities. Mr. Pence’s reward has been four years of taunts about selling his soul. Now it’s Mr. Pence’s moment. Turns out, America needed him there all along.