But Does He Believe in Democracy?

At the end of the first presidential debate, moderator Lester Holt asked a surprising final question. Some journalists that were tweeting about the debate chastised him for it, but it was actually the most consequential moment of the night. Holt disguised a crucial question about the fate of our constitutional republic as a throwaway last line. “One of you will not win this election,” he said, “so my final question to you tonight: are you willing to accept the outcome as the will of the voters?”

Clinton answered first: “Well, I support our democracy. And sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But I certainly will support the outcome of this election.” That’s the kind of response one would expect from any candidate at this level of politics—accurate, coherent, utterly unremarkable.

The audience then awaited Trump’s answer, his last words of a long night, with bated breath and weary eyes. After Trump rambled about jobs and deportation for a bit, Holt restated the question. Trump finally responded: “Look, here’s the story. I want to make America great again. I’m going to be able to do it. I don’t believe Hillary will. The answer is, if she wins, I will absolutely support her.”

Holt’s question would have been out of place in any other debate setting in America. We don’t typically ask candidates if they’ll accept election results because in contemporary America we presume that peaceful, democratic transfers of power are better than violent insurrections or civil war.

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