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(CNN) – The impact on our election was evident Saturday, minutes after media projections called for the race for President-elect Joe Biden. After seeing the initial news reports (it’s hard to hear the cacophony of the car horns and the cheers coming from outside) I went to pick up a package.
A stranger opened the door for me and said, “We have a new president!” I started talking to the woman and learned that she was originally from Syria.
“Today is the first time that I have been able to vote,” he said.
This hit the mark.
After four years of constant and negative rhetoric aimed at dividing and exploiting old wounds, especially in immigration and race, a prayer from a stranger, from an immigrant, reminded me of the importance not only of our elections, but of the process that we have and why what. it has traditionally been appreciated and should be respected.
And yet here we are, six days after the presidential election, where the results are clear, and despite this, President Donald Trump and his allies continue to question the result and make unproven claims of voter fraud. These claims never contain a shred of evidence and as Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, said on CNN Monday morning, there have simply been no credible reports of voter fraud.
Of course, these claims of voter fraud, which President Trump started about mail-in ballots before Election Day, have more to do with blaming the loss or simply not accepting it. But just because they’re invalid doesn’t mean they don’t have an impact yet.
Members of his base, fueled by the president’s rhetoric, have been peddling conspiracy theories and have refused to accept Biden’s victory.
Meanwhile, the unfounded claims come at a time when some Republicans have tried to make voting difficult, severely limiting where initial ballots can be left, requiring identification to vote, but then making it difficult to obtain identification in primarily minority areas, or failed move by Texas Republicans to scrap more than 100,000 legally cast ballots through curbside voting.
These movements are anti-American and perhaps the best result of these elections was the rejection of these types of tactics.
We knew that the 2020 elections were going to be a tough and divisive campaign. While President-elect Joe Biden has said important words about the union, a marked change from what we have seen, and continue to see, under Trump, real unity will be difficult. Part of that is because both Republicans and Democrats have no incentive to work together; Bipartisanship is not a solid fundraising tool nor is it popular with any of the grassroots. And there are frank differences in principle that will limit where Washington can bridge partisan divisions.
But we should be able to agree on the basic principles of our system of government: the right to vote, the scrutiny of that vote and the peaceful transition of power.
It is often said that the United States is an idea. It is also a promise. It is a promise we make to the individual, as well as to Syria’s foreigner, and to emerging democracies around the world.
Those basic principles are being tested in America right now, and we need to do better. Ultimately, even, or especially, in a moment of division, they are what unites us as Americans.
This story was first published on CNN.com ‘Trump’s refusal to accept electoral defeat is anti-American’
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