PrintBernstein: Trump will call election 'illegitimate' if Dems take power
Journalist Carl Bernstein said on CNN Sunday that the Trump White House is considering a plan to delegitimize the midterm elections if the Democrats take control of the House.
During an appearance on CNN, Bernstein said his sources relayed this information to him on Friday, warning that Trump has talked about a disruption campaign if the results are close but have the Democrats taking control of the House or Senate.
"I talked to people ... in touch with the White House on Friday who believe that, if the congressional midterms are very close and the Democrats were to win by five or seven seats, that Trump is already talking about how to throw legal challenges into the courts, sow confusion, declare a victory actually, and say that the election's been illegitimate," Bernstein said after being asked if Trump's challenge to fraudulent voters was a form of voter suppression.
"That is really under discussion in the White House," he added.
I cannot imagine Bernstein's "sources" being in a position to know the mind of Trump or his closest aides. What Trump confidant in his right mind would talk to Bernstein in the first place?
But let's take Bernstein's thesis at face value: that Trump is going to say the Democrats stole the election if Republicans lose. This would be typical Trump blather, but hardly relevant. First, all states have laws governing close elections, including recounts. A candidate can challenge the results in court if he doesn't get a recount, but most judges will laugh him out of the courtroom unless he has ironclad proof that voter fraud took place.
Second, Trump can scream and whine about the illegitimacy of the election all he wants; it won't change the outcome. As for "accepting" a Democratic victory, just as soon as Democrats "accept" Trump as president, I'm sure Republicans will embrace the election results.
Questioning the legitimacy of an election is exactly what Democrats did in 2016. I didn't hear Bernstein warning about the Apocalypse then, so he doesn't have a moral leg to stand on today.
