With the Supreme Court’s rejection of Donald Trump’s executive order curtailing mail-in voting, it seems certain he is ready to declare any Democratic victories in November as frauds. So it is particularly important to look back on that election Trump claimed was stolen from him.
No, I am not talking about his 7 million vote loss to Joe Biden in 2020. It was long before that when Trump claimed Ted Cruz stole an earlier election: the Iowa Republican caucuses of 2016.
After Trump lost that election, he tweeted “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!” Another tweet that same day: “The State of Iowa should disqualify Ted Cruz from the most recent election on the basis that he cheated — a total fraud!” And another: “Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.” In a radio interview that same day Trump announced that he would “probably” sue over the results because what Cruz did was “unthinkable.”
What was the reaction? Remember, this was back in 2016 when Trump was simply a d-list celebrity who had been roasted on Comedy Central. As Cruz bluntly stated: “He’s losing it …. Who would be comfortable with someone who behaves this way having his finger on the button?…. We’re liable to wake up one morning and Donald, if he were president, would have nuked Denmark.”
So according to Trump, Democrats like Biden steal elections. And Republicans like Cruz steal elections. Frankly, anyone who ever defeats him has stolen the election.
So when Trump lost the 2020 election by 7 million votes, was anyone really surprised he denied it? The bigger the margin of defeat, the bigger the claims of fraud.
On Jan. 6, 2021 we learned what Trump would do in the event of an electoral loss. But a recurrence of this in January 2027 would be different in a very significant way: “peaceful protesters” would know in advance that they are backed by presidential pardons.
How does a democracy die? When candidates only accept election results they like. Period. Full stop.
Timothy P. O’Neill, professor emeritus, University of Illinois Chicago, School of Law
Don’t let city off the hook
Instead of celebrating the city of Chicago’s weak clawback on the parking meter deal, maybe the Sun -Times should encourage deeper investigations on the no-bid contract of the law firm that originally handled the deal and it’s subsequenthiring of former Mayor Richard M. Daley and other dubious activity.
Mike Sullivan, Avondale