When Trump won in 2016, his opponents drew energy from the ludicrous claim that he had done it illegitimately. For years afterwards, polls showed that a majority of Democratic voters even believed the bogus conspiracy theory that Russians had changed the vote totals. But he took the oath of office, appointed Supreme Court justices, and signed laws all the same. So it will be — again, absent an extremely unlikely showing of contrary evidence about the vote — with Biden. Whether he is a wise president remains to be seen, though we have our doubts. He will be a legitimate president.

Biden is gamely trying to pretend that he has won a mandate for the policy agenda he occasionally mentioned during his campaign. That mandate does not exist, and Republicans have every reason to seek to stop that agenda from being enacted. That work should begin with an effort to reelect Republican senators in Georgia. A Republican Senate is a prerequisite both for blocking left-wing policy mistakes and for protecting some of the important policy achievements of the Trump presidency, such as a pro-growth and pro-family tax reform.