The Democratic members of Congress who are most critical of former President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 presidential election are already laying the groundwork to oppose the certification of a Trump victory just weeks before Election Day.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is the most notable of these would-be Democratic election deniers. In a recent report from Axios, Raskin refused to commit to supporting the certification of the presidential election when Congress meets on Jan. 6, 2025, to count the electoral votes if Trump is the winner.
Here’s how the outlet reported what he said:
“Raskin, the House Oversight Committee ranking member and former Jan. 6 committee member who objected to Trump electors in 2017, told Axios in an interview that if Trump ‘won a free, fair and honest election, then we would obviously accept it’… However, Raskin said he ‘definitely’ doesn’t assume that Trump would use free, fair, and honest means to secure a victory.”
In the same report, other Democratic lawmakers dropped subtle hints that they would at least consider not certifying the results.
“We would have to, in any election … make sure that all the rules have been followed,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), whose election denialism dates back to 2004, when she opposed the certification of former President George W. Bush’s victory in Ohio.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) echoed his colleague, saying, “We have to see how it all happens.”
Election denialism, of course, has a long tradition in the Democratic Party. In fact, the last time members of the party did not attempt to prevent the certification of a Republican victory in the presidential election was in 1988, when Bush won a landslide against Michael Dukakis. So, it is of little surprise that party members are already laying the groundwork to object to another Trump presidency.
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However, Democrats have spent the last four years hysterically condemning Trump as a threat to democracy because he refused to concede the 2020 election, leading to the chaos of Jan. 6, 2021, which saw the certification of President Joe Biden’s election disrupted by a riot, even though Trump told the crowd to protest peacefully. It is a major part of their campaign messaging this year as he seeks a return to the White House.
This is why their slowly-formulating plot to oppose the certification of Trump’s victory is so hypocritical. Trump does not control any lever of government power in 2024. He has no ability to influence the outcome of the presidential election besides asking people for their votes. If he wins on Nov. 5, it will be because the nation has had enough of the Democratic Party’s failed governance and wants change. However, Raskin and his ilk are too arrogant to admit that and would rather cast doubt on the election result and ensure that a third consecutive presidential term is viewed as illegitimate by half the country.