US democracy is being tested

The bedrock of American democracy, and why it has worked so well for so long, is a willingness to accept defeat in elections and ensure a smooth transfer of power to the winner. Sadly, with only 15 days to go before his term ends, Donald Trump is showing scant regard for that hallowed founding precept of the great republic that is the leader of the free world. His more than hour-long, blustering rant on Sunday directed at top state government election officials — all Republicans — in Georgia, during which he demanded they “find (me) 11,780 votes” so he, not Joe Biden, could be declared winner of the state at the November 3 presidential election, showed that. It revealed egregious tactics in his desperate bid to reverse his defeat that no American should view with anything but deep despair. “I just want to find 11,780 votes (Mr Biden won the state by 11,779 votes), which is just one more than we have,” he wheedled. “Because we won the state.” He did not win the state; Georgia, with 16 electoral college votes, was won by Mr Biden. Following recount after recount the state legislature endorsed his victory. That was duly accepted by the electoral college when it met on December 14 and formally declared Mr Biden won the presidency by 306 votes to Mr Trump’s 232.

The more than 60 courts actions claiming electoral fraud brought by Mr Trump since November 3 have not changed that emphatic result. Not one of the court actions has gone Mr Trump’s way, even when the judges involved included those in the US Supreme Court and federal courts appointed by him. All have gone against Mr Trump’s insistence he was robbed of victory, some voicing contempt for his unsubstantiated, frequently outlandish claims. Yet in his intimidating weekend call to Georgia officials, the US President, speaking from the Oval Office, demanded they conjure up 11,780 votes. “There’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you recalculated,” he said, alternately begging, conniving, pleading, cajoling and even seeming to threaten them.

They rightly declined. It remains to be seen what impact Mr Trump’s extraordinary intervention will have on Wednesday’s (AEDT) crucial Senate run-offs, which will decide who controls the Senate and Mr Biden’s ability to get approval for his legislative program. Many analysts believe that because of Mr Trump’s ill-tempered, “I was robbed” bitterness since November 3 and his unsubstantiated claims of fraud, it is going to be much harder for Republicans to win. Yet he remains unabashed. He has a long history of refusing to accept defeat gracefully. He is now spinning conspiracy theories and election falsehoods on Twitter. The Wall Street Journal has concluded “he doesn’t seem to care what damage he does in promoting the myth of his victory”.

That damage, to the Republican Party and more broadly to American democracy, is spreading. Thursday’s (AEDT) gathering of both houses of congress is supposed to be no more than a perfunctory formality to certify Mr Biden’s victory. But Mr Trump has been tweeting ominous calls for mass street action as the two houses meet. “Big protest in DC. Be there, will be wild,” he has tweeted. “Don’t miss it.” He also has pressured Republican leaders to take up what is seen overwhelmingly as a lost cause. Twelve Republican senators, diehard Trump supporters, have said they will refuse to certify the Biden victory, instead seeking an electoral commission to investigate the fraud claims and report in 10 days. A hundred House Republicans have promised to do the same. Mr Trump’s aim is to force state legislatures to overturn their December 14 electoral college certifications for Mr Biden.

Trump wants to create a constitutional crisis that would see the election result being decided by congress, something he bewilderingly believes could allow him to salvage a second term. This is despite the reality that Democrats control the House of Representatives and senior Republican leaders in the Senate, where the party currently has a 52-48 majority, have made it clear they accept Mr Biden’s victory and will not have a bar of Mr Trump’s bizarre attempts to up-end it. Mr Trump’s tactics are given little chance of succeeding. They are causing deep divisions among Republicans and will make it more difficult to win back the White House in 2024.

His embittered actions are showing he cares little about the collateral damage he is causing America’s universally admired democracy and the institutions that underpin its status as the leader of the free world. That is certain to cast a dark shadow over his achievements in the White House.