Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is no stranger to flip-flops, backtracks and denials of things he’s said in the past. But he has excelled himself this time, with a glaring self contradiction on one crucial matter.
According to The Guardian, when asked this week if he would accept this November’s election result, he answered evasively:
“We’re going to have to see. We’re going to see what happens. We’re going to have to see.”
That’s a long way from the statement he made immediately after his crushing defeat in last Monday’s debate with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. When asked the same question then, he said:
“Oh yes, absolutely I will.”
Observers have speculated that he may be preparing for the ever more likely possibility that he will lose. In recent days, he has returned to his frequent assertion that the November 8 vote may be rigged. At a rally on Friday, he told supporters:
“Go to your place and vote. And then go pick some other place and go sit there with your friends and make sure it’s on the up and up …. So go and watch these polling places.”
Apart from Steve Bannon, the Trump campaign director, registering to vote from an empty house, there is little evidence of rigging in U.S. elections. A Washington Post article in August claimed only 31 dubious incidents have been recorded from a billion votes cast since 2000.
Claiming a rigged result and his renewed hint that he may not accept it may even be a thought-out strategy, rather than just the usual Trump idiocy. According to Politico magazine, one close ally of Trump has said:
“If he loses, [he’ll say] ‘It’s a rigged election.’ If he wins, he’ll say it was rigged and he beat it. And that’s where this is headed no matter what the outcome is. If Donald Trump loses, he is going to point the finger at the media and the GOP establishment.”
Significantly, the ally is also quoted as adding:
“I can’t really picture him giving a concession speech, whatever the final margin.”
How exactly can he refuse to accept the result?
In practical terms, there’s not a lot Trump can do to overturn or reverse the outcome. He could take his case to court only if the result is extremely close and there are credible suspicions of rigging in one or two crucial swing states. Short of that, his chances would be slim.
What would happen if he does refuse?
The first, most horrifying consequence is that – rigged or not – a loss for Trump will inflame his supporters into violence and rioting. This has been suggested on more than one occasion during the run-up, with one former Trump staffer even predicting:
“It will be a bloodbath.”
Several commentators and people inside politics have warned of other serious implications. Dan Senor, an adviser to the Mitt Romney campaign in 2012, said:
“We’ve never had a presidential candidate who has questioned the legitimacy of an electoral outcome nationally. This does take us to a whole new world if the actual presidential candidate is questioning the legitimacy of this process, and the damage to our democracy could be substantial.”
Here’s a look back at some more of Trump’s contradictions.
Featured image from YouTube video.
