WASHINGTON — For years, “Will you accept the outcome of the election?” was so simple a question that politicians automatically answered, “Absolutely.”
The cornerstone of the nation’s democracy has always been that political adversaries accept the verdict of the voters. But heading toward the Nov. 4 presidential election, Republican officials are grappling with their answers — hoping on the one hand not to miff former President Donald Trump, who for the past four years has said the 2020 contest was stolen from him, while at the same time hoping to avoid sounding unpatriotic by saying “No.”
National media over the past two weeks have been tracking down Republican officials to ask that question and have met with dodges, nonanswers and silence — about anything other than an unambiguous commitment to support the results regardless of who wins.
For instance, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican frequently named as a possible Trump running mate, was asked repeatedly on NBC’s "Meet the Press”, and declined to say he would accept the election results. He allowed only that Trump would be elected.
Sen. J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican who is another possible Trump running mate, told CNN's "State of the Union" that he’d accept the results if the election is “free and fair.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, the Florida Republican who took a leading role in trying to overturn the 2020 results, told The New York Times he would accept the results in 2024 as long local election officials “follow election laws.”
Most of Louisiana’s Republican delegation refused to answer the question: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson; Reps Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge; Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette; Julie Letlow, R-Start; and Sen. John N. Kennedy, R-Madisonville.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, of Baton Rouge, was one of the few Republicans who opposed challenges to the electoral college count and voted to support certification of President Joe Biden’s win in 2020.
He was roundly criticized by Louisiana Republicans for that position and for voting to convict Trump on impeachment charges stemming from the Jan. 6 riot attempting to disrupt the certification. Trump in August wrote on his Truth Social media platform: “One of the worst Senators in the United States Senate is, without question, Bill Cassidy, A TOTAL FLAKE, Republican though he may be.”
Cassidy, who faces reelection in two years, said he would accept the results, “if it’s a free and fair election. Lindsey Graham says this and I agree with Lindsey, a free and fair election. … His answer is the perfect answer.”
Sen. Graham, R-South Carolina, said on “Meet the Press,” that he’d accept the election results if “there’s no massive cheating.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, referred to a statement his spokesperson gave The New York Times last week: “The Speaker of the House has a duty to ensure each presidential election is conducted in compliance with the Constitution and all applicable laws, and to accept the results accordingly. Speaker Johnson will always adhere to the rule of law,” said Taylor Haulsee, the speaker deputy communications chief.
Johnson, who opposed certifying the electoral votes that elected Biden president in 2020, was the author of theory that the presidential election was flawed because some states did not receive the proper legislative approval when they changed voting procedures during the COVID pandemic. However, the case was dismissed in federal courts.
Johnson also told the digital news site Politico that legally challenging election results were part of the process.
Though immigration, crime, inflation are all key issues in the presidential contest, election denialism is playing a role. At a March 2 rally in Greensboro, N.C., Trump said of the 2020 election, “82% of the country understands that it was a rigged election.”
Trump exaggerated, but not by much.
About two-thirds of Republican voters say the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, according to several recent polls. The Washington Post interviewed primary voters who claimed rigged voting machines, fake voters and other massive fraud occurred, though Trump supporters lost more than 60 lawsuits claiming massive cheating.
As the Louisiana congressional delegation’s only Democrat, Rep. Troy Carter, of New Orleans, couldn’t pass up an opportunity to make Republicans uncomfortable.
“As an elected official committed to upholding our democratic values, I will accept the results of the presidential election regardless of the outcome,” Carter said. “It’s essential for the stability and strength of our democracy that we respect the will of the voters and honor the outcome of our electoral process.”