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MAYBE IT’S DEMOCRATS WHO WON’T ACCEPT ELECTION LOSS. For weeks there have been news reports and commentary on whether President Trump will “accept” the results of November’s election. The president started it on July 19 when he said, “I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time, either.”
Then came the headlines: “Trump declines to say whether he will accept November election.” “Trump won’t commit to accepting result if he loses election.” “Trump not ready to commit to election results if he loses.”
But there is another, equally pressing question: Will Democrats accept the results of the election if Joe Biden loses? A new report suggests the answer could be no.
The report comes from a secretive group called the Transition Integrity Project (TIP). A bipartisan, anti-Trump organization, TIP was created last year by professors and policy types “out of concern that the Trump administration may seek to manipulate, ignore, undermine or disrupt the 2020 presidential election and transition process.”
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In June, TIP organized a meeting of 100 former government officials, political operatives, journalists, activists, national security experts and others. A few participants: John Podesta, Donna Brazile, Jennifer Granholm, Bill Kristol, Max Boot, other anti-Trumpers. Purpose was to war-game 2020 election scenarios. What would happen if results were contested or not known for weeks after election day? The results were published in a new report.
They worked through four election scenarios: 1) A clear Biden victory. 2) A narrow Biden victory. 3) A murky result. 4) A clear Trump victory.
In the clear Biden victory scenario, Trump originally alleged voter fraud but spent the transition tending to his private business and pardoning his family. Short version: Trump lost and left office. Biden was inaugurated January 20, 2021.
In the narrow Biden victory scenario, Trump did not concede. He challenged the legitimacy of mail-in ballots. Biden organized massive, sometimes violent, street protests. Biden’s electoral victory was certified but Trump “refused to leave the White House.” The president spent his final days burning incriminating evidence and planning for new network, TRUMP TV. But then, on inauguration day, he left the White House, possibly escorted by Secret Service. (The report is not clear on that.) Bottom line: Trump lost and left office. Biden was inaugured January 20, 2021.
In the murky scenario, the election count comes down to Michigan. But then a “rogue individual” destroys ballots that might have been for Biden. Trump has a narrow win in the Electoral College. But Biden does not accept the result and convinces the Democratic governor of Michigan to reject the state’s legislature and send pro-Biden electors to Washington. Neither side concedes, and there is no clear president on January 20, 2021.
In the clear Trump victory scenario, Trump lost the popular vote (as he did in 2016) but won the Electoral College. Biden at first conceded but then withdrew his concession as Democratic anger grew over another election in which the popular vote winner did not win the White House. The Biden campaign pressured Democratic governors of states Trump won to reject Trump electors and send Biden electors to Washington. The Democratic House refused to recognize Trump’s victory. Biden made wild demands in exchange for conceding, like DC and Puerto Rico statehood and the creation of more senators from California. Inauguration day arrived and the standoff “remained unresolved.” The report noted: “It was unclear what the military would do in this situation.”
In only one of the scenarios did a candidate win a clear victory and the opposing candidate refuse to accept the result. And the loser who refused to accept the result was Joe Biden — not Donald Trump. That is precisely the opposite of the Trump-won’t-accept-results speculation that has dominated the media in recent weeks.
Democrats gave various reasons for their refusal, but basically said that it was of the utmost importance to them to “prevent” a second Trump term — so important that they would deny a clear and legitimate Trump victory. Remember that the next time you hear someone alleging that Trump will not accept the election results.
