The process is working'
Stephen Collinson and Caitlin Hu
If President Donald Trump is contemplating the prospect of defeat by Democrat Joe Biden, he may intend to burn down American democracy on the way out.
In one of the most inflammatory moments in the history of the US presidency, a sour President appeared Thursday just as the election appeared to be turning against him. In a rambling screed, he lied over and over again, alleging a vast conspiracy had been hatched to deny him reelection.
Bizarrely, he argued that votes being counted in his favor were genuine, while any ballot that went against him was proof of massive fraud. To be clear, there is no evidence of fraud in the election. Legally cast votes are simply being counted. The reason Trump’s leads in key states are disappearing is that mail-in ballots – more often used by Democrats to avoid catching the coronavirus – are now being processed.
But the President was sending a message to his millions of supporters that his defeat -- if it comes -- will be illegitimate. Under the circumstances, inciting anger and further polarization threatens to destabilize the country at a most tense moment. The speech dishonored democracy, and left the United States, the supposed paragon of democratic values, looking like it was led by a wannabe autocrat.
Four tumultuous years have been leading up to this point. The Republican Party’s tolerance of Trump’s anti-democratic excesses early on enabled this behavior. His antics on Thursday night were the most extreme example yet of his disregard for the founding principles of the nation that he leads.
As
shocking as his display of grievance was, it won’t stop votes being
counted in the crucial states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, North
Carolina and Nevada. Trump will win some of those cliffhangers, but it’s
looking increasingly possible that he falls short in the race in the
end. The President might not recognize it, but this is called democracy. (CNN)
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