EDITORIAL – A tale of two very different concession speeches

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THOSE WHO CLING to the notion that Donald Trump will make everything great again and save democracy should pay attention to a couple of very important political speeches made over the past two days.

One was the concession speech yesterday of Vice President Kamala Harris. The other was a very brief address today (Nov. 7, 2024) by President Joe Biden.

Both stand in stark contrast to what Trump would be saying if he’d lost Tuesday’s election. Both Harris and Biden were gracious, intelligent and hopeful, rooting their comments in the fact that democracy depends on acceptance of the voters’ will. Harris took time to thank those who worked for her and those who voted for her, and talked also about carrying on the fight for the ideals of the Democratic party.

But the most important thing she said had to do with handing over power to Trump. “We must accept the results of the election,” she said. There was no whining, no claims that the election must have been rigged.

Today, in much fewer words, Biden, too, talked about “the peaceful transfer of power.” He, too, offered assurance that the current administration will do all it can to make the transition to the Trump team smooth and effective. That’s their duty but it seems odd it should have to be stated that the transfer of power will be peaceful.

Yet that’s what Trump has brought the state of American democracy to. Imagine if he had lost. Do you think he would have respectfully accepted the results, say the people have spoken, and move on?

Well, consider that, on election night before it became clear he was the likely winner, he was busy spreading false stories of election fraud. There was, he claimed, massive cheating going on in Philadelphia, one of the key influencers in the overall result of the election. That claim was quickly debunked.

In fact, he spent the last four years insisting he was cheated out of the 2020 election and, during the campaign leading up to Tuesday, repeatedly emphasized alleged concerns about election fraud. His base took the same line.

If Trump had lost, those claims would have kicked into high gear. His concession speech would have been night and day to what Harris and Biden said. Instead of graciously conceding, he would have screamed to the heavens that he was robbed. There would have been no concession. And we can only imagine what his supporters might have done.

Interesting, isn’t it, that since Tuesday, there have been no claims from the Trump camp that there was widespread election fraud. No talk of fraud in Philadelphia or anywhere else. Their guy, after all, won, so it must have been fair.

This is not a man who puts democracy first. What a contrast between his narcissistic view of the world, and the manner in which Harris and Biden reaffirmed democracy with their pledge of a smooth transition and a “peaceful” transfer of power.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.