CBS' John Dickerson: Trump's “Rigged” Election Conspiracy Theory Undermines American Democracy

Dickerson: Trump Questioned “The Pillar Of American Democracy, Which Is The Peaceful Transfer Of Power”

From the October 19 edition of CBS' presidential debate coverage:

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NORAH O'DONNELL: John Dickerson, I think one of the pivotal moments in tonight's debate was the question about whether Donald Trump would accept the results.

GAYLE KING: Coming after his daughter Ivanka this morning said that her father would accept the results.

JOHN DICKERSON: And Mike Pence on Face the Nation on Sunday said we'll accept the results. Now, there's a difference, first of all, between accepting the results and no longer saying that the election is rigged. Because what's happening when you say “the election is rigged” is you're inciting your supporters to watch out for anywhere it might be rigged, and it's also, it's intimidating to those who worry about being watched at the polling place because there are gonna be people out there who think that the vote is being rigged. But the central question for Donald Trump's candidacy has always been he is a change candidate, and he is disrupting, and that's fantastic, because there are a lot of people who want the system to get a punch in the nose and he is punching the system in the nose.

But change can go too far. And when you question something that is the pillar of American democracy, which is the peaceful transfer of power, and you do it perhaps for your own ends, that's going past just punching the system in the nose; that's punching the actual undergirding of the system and kicking its legs out from under it. And that's what woprries people about this talk that, “well, the election” -- with no real proof that there is illegtitimacy. There may be shenanigans but that's different than the actual vote being illegitimate. That's what worries people. 

Previously:

MSNBC Panel Aghast At Trump's Refusal To Pledge To Accept Election Results

CNN Presidential Historian: Trump's Rigged Election Claim Is “Bogus” And “Anti-American At Its Core”

Trump’s “Rigged” Election Nonsense Comes Straight From His Conspiracy Theorist Allies