As foolish as this might sound, as recently as last week, there were some far-right voices suggesting that Democratic officials would take steps to block Donald Trump from taking office, even if he won the election fair and square. It dovetailed with related scuttlebutt about enraged liberals and their antifa allies responding to a Trump victory with violence and social unrest.
The GOP nominee made matters worse. After weeks of peddling baseless conspiracy theories about rascally Democrats intending to cheat in the elections, the Republican claimed he knew of actual voter fraud that only existed in his imagination, laying the groundwork for a future challenge.
Midday on Election Day, Trump published an item to his social media platform that read, “A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!”
As is usually the case, he was peddling baseless nonsense. There was no cheating. Law enforcement was not on the way. Trump’s delusions weren’t real.
They also weren’t necessary. He won. There was no need to pre-emptively delegitimize the presidential race.
The morning after Election Day, Kamala Harris called Trump to concede the race and congratulate him on his victory. Hours later, as NBC News reported, the incumbent Democratic vice president delivered concession remarks at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington.
[S]he stressed that Democrats had to accept the results of the election to preserve democracy. Harris conceded defeat Wednesday. Trump never did when he lost to Joe Biden and Harris in 2020. “Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power,” she said, drawing a cheer from the crowd.
“A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results,” she added in a gracious speech. “And anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.”
Around the same, President Joe Biden called Trump, not only to congratulate him, but also to invite him to the White House for a post-election meeting. The retiring Democrat also, of course, assured his predecessor (and successor) that there would a smooth and peaceful transition of power.
Democratic congressional leaders also issued statements honoring the voters’ verdict. To be sure, they were understated in their comments, but they grudgingly accepted the outcome anyway.
Ordinarily, none of this would be notable. Over my career in journalism, I’ve covered, in one capacity or another, seven presidential campaigns, and I don’t recall ever being tempted to write a piece noting these customary and routine steps during a presidential transition process.
Indeed, it seems almost silly to applaud Democrats for doing exactly what they were supposed to do, when and how they were supposed to do it, taking the same steps others in their position have taken for generations.
But the context matters. The 2024 and 2020 presidential elections were nearly mirror images of each other. In both contests, out-of-office challengers won with more than 300 electoral votes. In both contests, the winning candidates won (or appear to be on track to win) the popular vote. In both contests, the victor nearly swept all of the battleground states. In both contests, the winning candidates saw their party reclaim a Senate majority. There is, of course, one big difference. This year, Americans did not see Harris declare victory in the middle of the night based on nothing more than wishful thinking. They didn’t see Democrats claiming, before or after the race, that the political system was “rigged.” They have no plans to utilize “fake electors.” There will be no fundraising gambit in which Democratic donors are asked to contribute to an “Election Defense Fund” that doesn’t exist. Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries will not organize an effort to ask the Supreme Court to reject electoral votes that Democrats don’t like. Biden will not pressure Harris to send the election back to state legislatures. Neither Democrat will summon armed far-left radicals to Washington, fill them with lies, demand that they “fight like hell,” and then deploy them to attack the U.S. Capitol. Instead, Biden, Harris and their party will continue to do what patriots do — what patriots have always done — which is the opposite of what Trump and Republicans did four years ago, and what the GOP and its candidate were prepared to do this again this year. My point is not to peddle some lazy “Democrats are good, Republicans are bad” thesis. Rather, my point is that it’s worth recognizing that when it comes to democracy, the two parties are playing by very different sets of rules.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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