As a recount of votes in Wisconsin is set to begin, there was some debate on CNN yesterday about whether or not such actions could serve to undermine the legitimacy of the 2016 election.
Delaware Senator Chris Coons told Wolf Blitzer there’s a world of difference between the recounts requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Donald Trump’s claims that millions of people voted illegally on November 8:
“Jill Stein is taking advantage of existing state laws that allow you to request a recount within a certain period and pay for the costs. On the other hand, President-elect Trump is undermining the whole confidence that the American people have in the election by recklessly tweeting that there are millions of illegal votes that have been cast, something for which there is no credible evidence.”
Blitzer then brought up the point of the recount undermining confidence in the American electoral process. Blitzer then added:
“If Hillary Clinton would have won, the Democrats were afraid that Donald Trump wouldn’t accept it, he would demand recounts and this would go on and on and on.”
“To be clear again, Jill Stein is taking advantage of an existing provision in law that allows you to ask for a recount and pay for it within a certain period of time. Donald Trump is undermining the whole concept that this was a free and fair election by suggesting that literally millions of illegal votes were cast, for which there is absolutely no evidence.”
Once more the CNN host said he was “still having trouble understanding” why Democrats support a recount, because they “would have been adamantly opposed to it if Donald Trump had lost the election.”
The Senator deftly shut down Blitzer with perfect logic:
“That’s following the law, that’s following our electoral process. That’s not undermining confidence in the entire election across the country by spreading false rumors as president-elect Trump is.”
Exactly so. A recount is allowed under election law. But when someone starts lying and saying millions of people cast illegal ballots, that is a threat to the process by which we choose our elected leaders. Donald Trump is a danger to the most fundamental underpinnings of our democracy.
Featured Image Via CNN Screengrab
