Matt Purple

American meltdown: a democratic disaster

What if no one accepts the election result?

issue 03 October 2020

Tuesday night’s debate between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden was a hopeless mess — a national embarrassment. For 90 minutes, two cantankerous and incoherent old men ignored the rules, shouted over each other and ruined the event. Trump insulted Biden’s intelligence and his children. Biden told Trump to ‘shut up’ and called him ‘a clown’.

The debate may prove useful in one sense, however — as a foretaste of the democratic meltdown that is coming America’s way after the election on 3 November. Again, the rules of the contest will not be accepted, each side will accuse the other of cheating and the whole occasion will turn into a disastrous farce.

If you think that’s hyperbole, just listen to what our would-be leadership has been saying. A few weeks ago — centuries in 2020 time — Hillary Clinton offered an extraordinary piece of advice to her successor. ‘Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances,’ she said.

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