LONDON – Allegations of suffrage, protests at counting centers and false declarations of victory from an illegal candidate. President Donald Trump’s baseless claims in the wake of the election are a gift to the world’s dictators and undermine American efforts to call for anti-democratic behavior abroad, experts have warned.
Since the election, Trump has made a rhetorical attack on the basic tenets of American democracy. When he began to shorten his lead in many states of war he urged the authorities to stop counting the votes; He accused widespread voter fraud without evidence and incorrectly labeled the mail-in ballot; And he repeatedly accused Democrats of trying to “steal” the election.
Even after the first term in which the president has repeatedly undermined democratic values, his remarks this week have set a whole new level of alarm. This only escalated when his supporters, some of whom were armed, started crowding polling stations during the knife count in Arizona and Michigan.
But independent observers have also warned of dire consequences abroad, where the United States has spent decades – and millions of dollars – on democracy-building efforts.
“He clearly crossed a line by saying that the counting of votes should be stopped,” said Michael Link, head of the U.S. election observation mission through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. “To use the similarities of the game, you can’t stop the game when you’re in the middle of the game and when you go 40 minutes ahead because you want to win.”
The OSCE, a major international body that monitors elections around the world, said in a preliminary report on Wednesday that the US vote was largely “competitive and well-governed.” But he said he had been “stigmatized” by Trump’s “baseless allegations” and warned that his remarks would “damage public confidence in democratic institutions” globally.
Observing from Malawi, dictatorial expert Nick Cheezman said he already witnessed the damage done to the real world by Trump’s remarks.
“This undermines the moral authority of the United States when talking about other countries’ elections and will encourage dictators around the world,” said Cheezman, a professor of democracy and international development who has been temporarily reinstated at a university in England. Of Birmingham.
“Anyone who wants to encircle democracy in their own countries will now be able to take advantage of the fact that the US has a weak voice on these issues,” he said.
The last four years have seen strong people from Syria to Turkey and from Hungary to Thailand – adopting Trump’s “fake news” mantra or dismissing factual journalism that they don’t like. The fear now is that autocrats will be able to make direct reference to Trump’s anti-democratic rhetoric to justify their own actions. Or they think the U.S. They are more likely to leave the hook, Cheeseman said.
The United States is the world’s leading democracy, former British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC on Wednesday.
Hunt, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said, “If we talk about the right and the left in the middle of a stolen election, we will only put a smile on the face of people like President Putin, President Xi.” , “Who will pay attention to their own people and say: Aren’t you glad you didn’t get any of this mess?”
Even after the presidency, in which Trump has shocked the world with his raucous style, his comments have found a new nod to many observers at home and abroad.
“People here are looking at America with disbelief,” Cheezman said. “America is becoming an electoral comedy stock around the world, and the long-term damage to America’s democratic reputation will be deeper and longer than Trump’s.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden has predicted victory, and called for unity since the final vote count. According to NBC News, he received 253 electoral college votes, compared to 214 for Trump. In response to Trump’s remarks, his election lawyer, Bob Bauer, received some criticism, saying, “We have won the election, and we will defend that election.”
For decades, the U.S. At the forefront of efforts to build international democracy, they were quick to call on some foreign governments when they challenged democratic norms.
In 2018, the United States Agency for International Development spent 92 92 million on its relocation program, designed to help countries accelerate efforts toward “sustainable development, peace, good governance and democracy.”
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At the start of elections across Africa, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned last month that the US would “monitor the actions of individuals interfering in the democratic process and not hesitate to consider the consequences.”
And on Wednesday, the U.S. U.S. in Ivory Coast in the morning after the election. The embassy called on the country’s leaders to show “commitment to the democratic process” after the election controversy.
According to Brian Klass, an associate professor of global policy at University College London, after what Trump said, that particular language could boom very easily in the United States, as it applies here as well.
Of course, when it comes to friends and strategic partners, the U.S. Is also accused of making soft-soft-paddling remarks. Washington ally Washington counts his allies in Saudi Arabia for human rights abuses. And it provides સહાય 1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt, where observers say President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has strengthened his authoritarian regime.
During his time in office, Trump sided with dictators, specifically saying he had “fallen in love” with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, who is considered the world’s worst living human rights abuser.
In this sense, many experts see post-election comments as the most shameless example of a long-term trend rather than a completely new development.
During his previous work as an observer traveling around the world, Klaus said that the 2000 U.S. He faced a pushback after the presidential race, in which George W. Bush defeated Al Gore after losing a popular vote and only after an ugly legal battle in Florida. Supreme Court.
“People used to say to me, ‘How can you lecture us when you don’t give the presidency to the person who gets the most votes?'” He said. “This election is like Bush We Gore on steroids.”
There are some senior Republicans who have broken ranks with Trump, condemned the comments and must count all the votes.
“Maryland Govt. Larry Hogan,” the President’s remarks tonight have no defense in undermining our democratic process. Said in a tweet. “America counts votes, and we should always respect the results as we always do. No election or person is more important than our democracy.”
Still, the noise gets a little cut-throw outside the U.S. and is probably lost in the wall of noise when it comes to international perspectives, Cheezman said.
And Trump’s anti-Democrat message is what has raised him above all others.
Pan Siripark, a 19-year-old student in Bangkok, Thailand, where protesters risk going to jail for demanding democratic reform, said they had something that no one expected from the US.
“It was reminiscent of Third World countries,” he added, “where you have allegations of vote harassment … it seems unbelievable.”
