Letters | Trump’s refusal to concede sets a bad precedent for the US and the world

Trump’s case of massive electoral fraud is getting weaker by the day. He should accept defeat in the time-honoured tradition and show respect to voters and the electoral system

Reading Time:2 minutes

People gather to celebrate Joe Biden’s election win over US President Donald Trump on November 7 in Washington. Photo: AP

Published: 12:35pm, 22 Nov 2020Updated: 12:35pm, 22 Nov 2020

A poll released on November 17 showed that many American voters believe US President Donald Trump should immediately concede the presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, who has secured more than enough electoral votes to become the United States’ 46th president.

Trump has long claimed that the election was “stolen” from him, with his legal team suggesting that large-scale voter fraud occurred in cities such as Atlanta, Detroit and Philadelphia, which tipped their respective states’ electoral votes in favour of Biden. Though it is true that in some polling stations, there are serious allegations of voting irregularities or transparency problems in the ballot counting process, and all of these claims deserve to be properly investigated, it appears very unlikely that the number of disputed or questionable votes are large enough to change the election outcome.

Recounts are under way in some states but there have been few successful cases of results being overturned in recent history. In addition, most lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign in critical states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan have either been dropped or denied, and in the case of Michigan, election results in the state’s most populous Wayne County, which includes Detroit, have been certified by officials from both parties.

01:04

Philadelphia mayor tells Trump to 'put his big boy pants on'

Trump’s case of massive electoral fraud is getting weaker by the day as more of his state-level and congressional allies, such as Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, jump ship and recognise Joe Biden as the president-elect.

When Republican Mitt Romney lost the presidential election to Barack Obama in 2012, few, if any, thought his defeat was due to cheating by the Democrats. Romney conceded the election right away and hoped the country would unite after a bitter and divisive campaign.

Though conceding an election is not legally required, it is a time-honoured tradition. Trump should follow this convention as a sign of respect to voters and the electoral system.

If Trump ultimately refuses to restore normalcy by acknowledging his defeat, it would set a bad precedent for other defeated candidates in the future at every level of elections across the country – or even the globe.