The Double Standard on Election Acceptance

Two months ago, the liberal media erupted in horror after the third presidential debate. Fox’s Chris Wallace challenged Donald Trump on whether he would accept the result of the election, and Trump said he would wait and see. NBC described a “flood of condemnation” and cited President Obama accusing Trump of “(undermining) our democracy.” “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie called it an “earthquake.”

Guthrie turned to retired anchorman Tom Brokaw to denounce Trump. He said: “This is not a banana republic. We’ve got more than 200 years of presidential elections and graceful and peaceful transitions to the new administration. As you saw, even Richard Nixon, Al Gore, the people who were caught up in very close races, said, ‘I accept that this is the new president.’”

Trump won the election handily with 304 electoral votes, and Democrats flip-flopped, sullenly refusing to accept the results. And so did the “objective” media. On Dec. 18, there was no “earthquake” at NBC when Hillary Clinton aide John Podesta refused to say that President-elect Trump won a free and fair election. He said instead that it was rigged by the Russians.

And it was the ballot errors. And FBI Director James Comey. And the fake news epidemic. And the Constitution — that blasted Electoral College! Nobody brought in Brokaw to lecture Team Hillary about banana-republic behavior.

Back in October, The New York Times issued a front-page alert, saying, “In a remarkable statement that seemed to cast doubt on American democracy, Donald J. Trump said Wednesday that he might not accept the results of next month’s election if he felt it was rigged against him — a stand that Hillary Clinton blasted as ‘horrifying’ at their final and caustic debate on Wednesday.”

Two months later, the Times was eagerly giving oxygen to any protest against Trump, no matter how fanatical. It said: “In Florida, protesters swarmed the Capitol rotunda, one hoisting a ‘Trump Is Too Rusky’ sign featuring a hammer and sickle. In Wisconsin’s statehouse, a heckler shouted, ‘'We’re all going to go to war and die thanks to you.’”

This was somehow democracy in action. There was no remarkable or horrifying adjective at the top of the story. Instead, the Times turned to Adam Jentleson, a top aide to retiring Sen. Harry Reid, who warned, “There’s not going to be a grace period this time because everybody on our side thinks he’s illegitimate and poses a massive threat.”

Even the leftist late-night comedians showed the double standard. CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert mocked Trump in October, saying: “Oh, suspense! Democracy’s going to end in a cliffhanger! I guess we’re all going to have to wait until Nov. 9 to find out if we still have a country — if Donald Trump is the mood for a peaceful transfer of power or if he’s just going to wipe his fat a— with the Constitution.”

After the election, Colbert said: “Walking around the streets of New York today, a lot of people (were) a little rough. You know, you could see it in their eyes. … This is what it feels like when America’s made great again.” The crowd laughed. He continued: “And I was really hoping it would feel better because this sucks! And I don’t know if you guys had any trouble getting in here tonight because right now, tonight, thousands of people have taken to the streets in protests in cities all over America.”

Colbert told his audience to accept President Trump (how noble). But the protesters still drew screams and hearty applause. Somehow they weren’t fat dictators using the Constitution as toilet paper.

The Times insisted on Monday that “the uneasiness with Mr. Trump has hardly receded in the nearly six weeks since his election.” That is because the press will not stop agitating, and all the while they call it “news.”

That, folks, is also “fake news.”

The Patriot Post® · The Double Standard on Election Acceptance