Today's print edition of the Los Angeles Times highlights an exchange in the debate between the two vice presidential candidates and the court filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith that revealed many additional details of Donald Trump's scheme to nullify his defeat in the 2020 election ("Election denial returns as focus with Vance’s ‘non-answer,’ new Trump indictment details").
Tim Walz, raising an issue where the parties "are miles apart," asked a question of JD Vance:
TW: This was a threat to our democracy in a way that we had not seen. And it manifested itself because of Donald Trump's inability to say, he is still saying he didn't lose the election. I would just ask that. Did he lose the 2020 election?
JDV: Tim, I'm focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?
TW: That is a damning. That is a damning non answer.
Smith's court filing, unsealed by Judge Tanya Chutkan, presents a wealth of evidence of the criminal conspiracy directed from the White House to keep Trump in power after he had lost the 2020 election by more than 7 million votes, resulting in a clear Electoral College victory -- 306 to 232 -- for Joe Biden.
Senator Vance would not concede that Trump lost. Could not do so and remain in the good graces of the former president who leads the Republican Party. Indeed, no prominent Republican can make this concession if s/he wishes to remain in the good graces of the GOP leader and his MAGA followers. Election denialism, refusal to bend to the reality of Trump's 2020 loss, is an article of faith in the party. The leader will brook no dissent regarding this fabrication. It is fundamental to the 2024 Republican presidential campaign.
On Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson also declined to acknowledge Trump's 2020 defeat. These refusals serve to prop up the Big Lie that Trump won the last presidential election and to convince Republican voters, who naturally look to their leaders, of that fabrication. The LA Times article cited above notes polling that found just 31% of Republicans believe that Biden legitimately won in 2020.
Johnson, then a Louisiana congressman, took the lead in a December 2020 lawsuit to block certification of the November election. He "also echoed some of the wilder conspiracy theories pushed by then-President Donald Trump to explain away his loss." On January 6, 2021 -- when Congress reconvened after rioters had left the Capitol -- Congressman Johnson was among 121 Republicans (a majority of the caucus) who voted to challenge Arizona's election results. Vice President Pence declined to be a party to this stratagem. Senator Vance has stated repeatedly that he would not have acted as Pence did in certifying the 2020 election results. His recent refusal to concede Trump's loss suggests that, if given the chance in January 2029 as VP (if elected this fall), he would not hesitate to block a November 2028 Democratic victory.
The significance of the Big Lie going forward is that in 2024 Donald Trump (as he did in 2016 and 2020) refuses to commit in advance to accepting the election results. He has begun (as he did in the previous two presidential campaigns) to lay the groundwork for refusing to accept a defeat. Ed Kilgore notes that, in preparation for the possibility of experiencing another election defeat in November, Trump's list of things that comprise "election interference" has multiplied in 2024.
Last week in Milwaukee, Trump was asked, "Do you trust the election process this time around?" His response: "I'll let you know in about 33 days."
Trump has insisted repeatedly, as he did in August in North Carolina, that the only way he could possibly lose the election is if Democrats cheat:
“Our primary focus is not to get out the vote,” he said. “It’s to make sure they don’t cheat, because we have all the votes you need. You can see at every house along the way, has signs: Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump-Vance, Trump-Vance.”
In September he repeated his fabricated tales with threats to imprison the cheaters who stole the 2020 election: "... WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences ..."
American democracy is at stake
Much more is required of American democracy than majority rule. But this much is clear: we can't have democratic governance without upholding our traditions of free and fair elections, of the losers conceding their losses and seeking to win the next time around, and of the peaceful transition of power after voters have rendered a judgment.
Donald Trump, with his fragile ego, extravagant lies, and willingness to rouse the passions of his followers to the point of violence is not a small-d democrat. His election denialism, fraudulent claims of election fraud, and refusal to concede when he has lost makes him unfit for elected office (though hardly the only thing that disqualifies him for the presidency):
“It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.” -- Donald Trump watching as rioters (whom he has pledged to pardon) stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Through his actions Trump has shown himself to be hostile to the Constitution, indifferent to the rule of law, and contemptuous of democratic values. The Republican Party, abandoned by elected and unelected officials of principle, is now comprised of men and women in positions of influence willing to do Trump's bidding or to duck out and refuse to take a stand for democracy. Country over party has been embraced by a handful of conservatives who held office when Trump entered the White House; but Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Jeff Flake, Geoff Duncan, and a number of less prominent leaders (some who regard themselves as former Republicans; some who still embrace the label) are no longer welcome in the current Republican Party, which cannot be counted on as a bulwark of democracy.
This is why the 2024 election is so critical.