National Review Online
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Following the lead of Georgia congressman John Lewis, a
flurry of Democrats will not be attending Friday’s inauguration of
President-elect Donald Trump, on the grounds that Trump, in Lewis’s words,
“isn’t a legitimate president.”
The notion that Trump is not “legitimate” has picked up
steam as the extent of Russia’s attempt to sway the recent presidential
election has become clearer, although exactly how Trump is not legitimate is
never explained. Donald Trump was nominated in accord with the rules of the
Republican party. He was then elected by more than 270 members of the Electoral
College, in accord with rules that have been in place since the 18th century.
There is no evidence that electoral fraud or disenfranchisement account for his
narrow victories in key states, and no one forced Hillary Clinton to forgo
late-October visits to key swing states.
Nonetheless, a recent poll found that a majority of
Democrats believe that Russia not only waged a campaign of misinformation but
actually manipulated ballot totals — an allegation for which there is not a
shred of proof. This is what happens when Democratic leaders and media
partisans recklessly declare that Russia “hacked the election,” preferring to
peddle that tale rather than admit that Donald Trump had a more appealing
message to American voters.
Donald Trump is no less “legitimate” a president than was
Barack Obama in January 2009. That does not mean that he comes into office
popular, and no one expects Democrats to withhold criticism. However, there is
an obvious distinction between suggesting that Donald Trump is ill-suited to
the presidency and that he is illegally in office.
Friday’s inaugural ceremony is an opportunity for
Democrats to acknowledge that difference. Set aside the spectacle that now
accompanies it; at the core of the inauguration is a quadrennial reminder that
the president is not a monarch, but a public servant subordinate to the
Constitution. The duty to “preserve, protect, and defend” America’s founding
charter applies equally to Republicans and Democrats, or to presidents who won
the popular vote and presidents who didn’t. Representative Lewis, who has done
so much to advance the Constitution’s promise of equality before the law,
should be the first to recognize this.
Unfortunately, Democrats are choosing to make political
point-scoring their foremost priority. At the same time that they are warning
about the threat Trump poses to “norms” and “institutions,” Democrats are
setting a precedent for inauguration ceremonies that they see as little more
than another opportunity for partisan grandstanding.
Every president-elect has his critics, and Donald Trump
more than most. But no one has to celebrate Trump to celebrate America’s unique
success: 225 years of elections decided by ballots, not bullets.
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