Trump trying to cling to power

Resist the temptation to write off President Donald Trump’s extraordinary telephone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as simply a case of Trump being Trump. It was far worse than that.

The conversation should be concerning — but not because of the alleged problems Trump raised with Georgia’s presidential vote count. Those are pure fiction. What was actually alarming was Trump’s abuse of power in trying to intimidate state officials to illegally overturn certified election results, and his increasing obsession with how he lost as the days tick down on his time in the White House.

Four years of unconventional behavior cannot hide the fact that Trump’s call was an egregious violation of norms and, possibly, the law. His language and conduct was filled with arm-twisting and insinuations and threats of repercussions if Georgia’s officials did not bend to his will — as when he told Raffensperger and his general counsel, Ryan Germany, that failing to report election fraud is "a criminal offense" and "that’s a big risk to you and to Ryan..." In saying that he wants to "find" 11,780 votes, just enough to give him Georgia’s electoral votes, Trump showed again he cares only about himself, not the country he is supposed to lead or the democracy he is entrusted to shepherd.

Now his refusal to admit defeat and his continued airing of baseless claims has dozens of House and Senate members promising to vote Wednesday against certifying the Electoral College results, thousands of supporters vowing to take to the streets of Washington in protest, tens of millions of Americans believing erroneously that the election was tainted by some massive fraud, all 10 living former secretaries of defense warning against possible military involvement in what should be and always has been a peaceful transfer of power, and the world watching in bewilderment as America shrinks from its vital role as the exemplar of seamless presidential transitions.

Let us be clear: The president and his supporters have had every opportunity to prove their claims of election fraud in myriad state and federal courts and have failed at every turn. They have proved no irregularities that would have tipped the election, offering merely a dismal drivel of misinformation, conspiracy theories and selectively edited videos that have been debunked repeatedly. Some of the judges who rebuffed these lawsuits were appointed by Trump. Now, having exhausted the well-established process our nation has in place for certifying an election, the president is trying to undermine that process.

Georgia Republican election official Gabriel Sterling reiterated Monday that there is "zero proof" of the "wild" claims of fraud made by the president and his allies. It’s time for other Republicans of conscience to call out this subversion of democracy and accept the facts. State election systems largely functioned remarkably well. Massive fraud did not occur. Saying things repeatedly does not turn allegations into facts. Trump’s call to Raffensperger was not an honest effort to right a wrong, but a desperate attempt to cling to power.

— The editorial board