“Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. Democrats are growing increasingly alarmed as Mr. Trump repeatedly questions the integrity of the vote and suggests that he might not accept the results if he loses. “He’s threatening the election process and saying out loud what everyone has assumed he’s been thinking,” said Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of American political history at Princeton University. “The more he makes these arguments, the more he normalizes the fact that this can be part of the conversation.”“Even if meant to distract, these are powerful words to come from a president,” Mr. Zelizer added. “He’s clearly accelerating his effort to set up a challenge to an outcome that is unfavorable to him.”

Source: New York Times September 24, 2020 01:51 UTC