Bad Politicians Think Elections Are Illegitimate if They Don't Like the WinnerDemocracy means accepting results you're not happy about.
J.D. Tuccille
1.21.2022
President Joe Biden probably met the low bar set for his rare press conference this week by not face-planting into a pudding cup, but he also uttered a few eye-openers during his meandering performance. Among them was the claim that the 2022 midterm elections might be illegitimate if his party's voting bill doesn't pass. It was yet another reminder that former President Donald Trump has plenty of company in accepting the political process only if things go his way. So, if you're looking for a respite from disputed vote tallies, don't hold your breath.
Asked about the possibility of disputed elections this year, Biden first raised the danger of Republicans discarding votes. But then he set his own conditions for accepting results.
"I'm not going to say it's going to be legit," he added. "It's — the increase and the prospect of being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these — these reforms passed."
Of course, the voting bill Biden favors failed later the same day. So, without his preferred rules in place, does he think the midterm elections are likely to be rigged? "Rigged," after all, is the word thrown around by another prominent Democrat who cast doubts on vote tallies that delivered unwelcome results. Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams famously refused to concede the 2018 election she lost to Brian Kemp.
"I will not concede because the erosion of our democracy is not right," she announced in 2018 as she dropped her legal challenges only because "the law currently allows no further viable remedy."
"The game is rigged," she insisted the following year.
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Source:
https://reason.com/2022/01/21/biden-thinks-elections-are-illegitimate-if-he-doesnt-like-the-winner/
