‘Is this sketchy af?’: Americans are questioning Joe Biden’s reaction to Donald Trump’s re-election
A very carefully worded speech from President Joe Biden dismissing any concerns about election integrity has left some Americans perplexed.
Following Donald Trump’s re-election, many Democrats raised valid questions about the election results. Many were concerned about reports of voter roll purges, ballot box burnings, and voting poll bomb threats believed to be Russian in origin. A lot of Democrats suggested a recount in the major counties that experienced threats and election interference. On top of that, one metric that hasn’t made sense is the number of votes. While Trump received nearly the same amount of votes this year as in 2020, Kamala Harris received roughly 12 million fewer votes than Biden. Considering that all signs pointed to record voter turnout this year, it is hard to wrap one’s head around the fact that 12 million Democrats apparently just didn’t show up in this election.
Despite calls for a recount, investigation, or even revote, Harris quickly conceded the election to Trump and promised a peaceful transition of power. Now, Biden has also addressed the election and refused to entertain any ideas of a recount.
Joe Biden emphasizes the need to accept the election results
On November 7, Biden gave a speech in the Rose Garden addressing the results of the 2024 election. Listeners noticed he seemed to go out of his way to dismiss concerns about the election results. He stated, “I hope we can lay to rest the question about the integrity of the American electorate system. It is honest, it is fair and it is transparent. And it can be trusted, win or lose.” Like Harris, he also promised America he would fulfill his oath and “honor the Constitution” by having “a peaceful transition of power.”
Biden urging Americans to believe in and uphold the electoral system isn’t necessarily surprising. However, many can’t help but ask why neither Biden nor Harris will address the major concerns Democrats have about the election and explain why they will not request a recount. After all, some of these concerns are valid. Americans have questions about Russian interference and states like Virginia purging eligible citizens from its voter registration roll. They would feel much more open to trusting the results if Biden and Harris could directly address the threats and interference and explain to America how they know for certain these instances didn’t impact the integrity of the election.
Instead of directly addressing and explaining the concerns, Biden and Harris have simply directed Americans to accept the results without question. Both of them are acting as if it’s illegal to even entertain the idea of a recount, even though, in states like Wisconsin, the race was close enough to be eligible for a recount. As a result, social media users have declared that it’s “sketchy asf” how Biden seems so determined to dismiss any lingering questions about the results. Users described feeling uneasy about how quickly and easily Biden and Harris seemed to give up the race. Some hope that a quiet investigation is taking place and that the pair are simply trying to avoid spiking tensions.
The situation may not be as perplexing as Americans think, though. Throughout the entire election, Harris has been held to higher standards than Trump. As a woman, person of color, and Democrat, she is held to exceedingly high standards, while Trump is permitted to be “lawless.” While Trump can stage an insurrection and still be elected President, it’s unclear what would happen to Harris if she even insinuated questioning the election results. It could ruin her career and hurt the Democratic Party for years. While the GOP has already proven to be the party that defies democracy, Democrats still face incredibly high standards from those inside and outside to uphold the Constitution and act with class and dignity.
Even if Biden and Harris had irrefutable evidence of election fraud, their hands would likely also be tied by threats of violence from MAGA. In light of the double standard and MAGA’s extremism, it does seem a recount would likely only backfire for Democrats.
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