Inauguration Day Symbolizes America's Enduring Constitution

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It is especially important for Donald Trump to attend this one since he has contested the November outcome so aggressively. Those challenges have gone well beyond formal legal contests. He has rallied supporters to challenge the legitimacy of the election outcome. That rallying cry needs to end, even as legal battles continue. It is time for President Trump to signal his public recognition that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and that he and the Republican Party are now the “loyal opposition.”

The losing side has every right to challenge the election’s integrity in court. Trump has done so repeatedly and failed each time. That’s partly because it is nearly impossible to swiftly prove “fact claims,” such as voter fraud. Still, Trump’s legal team has held numerous press conferences and public hearings to assert they have incontrovertible proof. Their claims have convinced die-hard believers but not trial judges, appellate courts, or state legislatures. Repeating these claims of a “stolen election,” without convincing the courts, rends the country’s already-fraying political fabric.

Few open-minded people would doubt there was some fraud in this election. It was probably worse this year because so many states instituted widespread mail-in voting without experience or solid protections against fraud.

Still, no courts or administrative tribunals have found mistakes or malfeasance large enough to change any state’s electoral votes. Some courts may have been biased, but Trump’s team has lost before multiple judges he appointed. He has lost administrative challenges in states led by Republicans he once endorsed. He has every right to continue these challenges, but, without major legal victories, it irresponsible to claim that Joe Biden is not the duly elected president. He is. Attorney General Bill Barr underscored that point in a final press conference, saying his department has not yet found any evidence of widespread fraud.

Democrats don’t come to this moment with clean hands. It’s fine for them to celebrate their presidential victory. But it’s rich to see them parading their moral superiority. Their abysmal behavior after Trump’s victory four years ago is a one reason we face such ferocious pushback today.

It’s fruitless to direct blame at one party. Both have wrongly claimed the winner is illegitimate. We need to restore a bipartisan sense that our leaders hold office rightfully, thanks to free and fair elections.

That restoration should begin with a bipartisan effort to ensure future elections are honest, especially if they involve large-scale mail-in voting. Second, politicians and their ardent supporters need to stop promoting unproven claims of fraud and criminality. Third, leaders from both parties, including the outgoing president, need to affirm America’s constitutional stability by standing together as the new president is sworn in. Trump will have to grit his teeth, but his appearance on stage with Joe Biden will show the world our democracy endures.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/01/03/inauguration_day_symbolizes_americas_enduring_constitution_144948.html