PD Editorial: Donald Trump's reckless and damaging claims of rigging

Pundits suggest that Donald Trump may have delivered a fatal blow to his White House hopes Wednesday with his refusal to say whether he would accept the results of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

“What I’m saying is that I will tell you at the time,” Trump said. “I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?”

With his wealth and insatiable ego, Trump certainly has the ability to acquire and keep many things. But keeping us in suspense is not one of them. Because in our view, this was not a fatal blow. That came long ago, somewhere between his imitation of a physically disabled political reporter, his mocking of a Muslim mother of a U.S. soldier who died in combat and the release of a recording in which he bragged, in cringe-worthy terms, about his unsolicited sexual advances and possible outright assaults on women because, as Trump claimed, “When you’re a star … you can do anything.”

In fact, Trump’s refusal to accept the election outcome, while unprecedented within presidential politics, is not out of character. Given his tendency to see conspiracies at every turn, to deflect responsibility for his poor choices and to offer in presidential debates such memorable lines as “No puppet, you’re the puppet,” Trump had nothing to lose. But America does. It has plenty to lose.

It’s hard to imagine how Trump could inflict more harm on his own campaign. But his scored-earth approach to this election threatens to do real and lasting damage to our democratic process.

In addition to adding fuel to those who make veiled threats of violence on Election Day, it gives aid and comfort to our nation’s enemies who would like nothing better than to see this kind of disunity during such a pivotal election. Our country has long been respected for its tradition of a peaceful transition of power, from George Washington’s farewell address to Al Gore’s acceptance “for the sake of our unity as a people” the questionable outcome of the 2000 election (See column by Carter Eskew on Page A13).

But Trump’s groundless allegations of a possible “rigged” election on Nov. 8 is threatening that peaceful tradition.

“I’ve often said a revolution is coming,” said one caller to a conservative radio talk show on Thursday. “And if Hillary is elected, it will not be good.”

This is why Clinton was correct in saying that Trump’s refusal to accept the results was “horrifying.”

“This is how Donald thinks, and it’s funny, but it’s also really troubling,” she said. “That is not the way our democracy works. We’ve been around for 240 years. We’ve had free and fair elections. We’ve accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during a general election.”

Even Republican Party leaders have distanced themselves from Trump’s cries of foul play. But they also must take ownership of it. The nation has seen this kind of take-no-prisoners approach before in GOP efforts to shut down the government, refusals to bring bills that have bipartisan support to the House floor and failure, even now, to execute constitutional obligations to hold confirmation hearings on a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. Given such brinkmanship, no one should be surprised by Trump’s decision to take it one step further in casting doubt on the integrity of our election process.

In endorsing Clinton, we said that we did not believe that Trump was either qualified or fit for this high office. By his recent actions, he has only confirmed that. And now, with the outcome of this election all but certain, he appears determined to make the nation lesser for even having him as a candidate. His conduct is disgraceful.