选举否认论的出现只是时间问题。曾有一瞬间，似乎特朗普总统真的可能接受一次政治失败。民主党刚刚给共和党带来一次全面的谴责，夺取了国会两院的控制权，翻转了至少七个参议院席位，并在全国各州议会取得了历史性进展。
It was only a matter of time before the election denial began. For a brief moment, it seemed President Trump might actually accept a political defeat. Democrats just delivered a sweeping rebuke to Republicans, taking control of both chambers of Congress, flipping at least seven Senate seats, and making historic gains in statehouses across the country.
但这好得不真实。周一，大选后近一周，特朗普在 Truth Social 上写道：“有人真的相信这次‘选举’是诚实的吗？民调怎么会错得这么离谱？？？一些早期投票‘数据倾倒’量大到不可能赢，无论有多少人去投票。这全关乎机器，机器比选民重要得多！”这就是了。熟悉的暗示：他不喜欢的选举结果必定以某种方式是非法的。
But it was too good to be true. On Monday, nearly a week after the election, Trump took to Truth Social and wrote: “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong??? Some early voting ‘dumps’ were so large that it was impossible to win, no matter how many people went to vote. It’s all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!”And there it is. The familiar suggestion that an election he didn’t like the outcome of must somehow be illegitimate.
现在，特朗普在一点上说对了：民调确实错了。但不是他暗示的那种方式。民调低估了民主党。
Now, Trump is right about one thing: The polls were wrong. But not in the way he’s suggesting. They underestimated the Democrats.
在佐治亚州，民主党的表现超过了最终民调平均值。在得克萨斯州，詹姆斯·塔拉里科击败肯·帕克斯顿的参议院选战比民调预测强约 9 个百分点。南卡罗来纳州尤为引人注目：安妮·安德鲁斯赢得了一个共和党把持的参议院席位，而最终民调平均值显示共和党微弱领先。
In Georgia, Democrats outperformed final polling averages. In Texas, James Talarico’s Senate victory over Ken Paxton was about 9 points stronger than polling projected. South Carolina is particularly notable: Annie Andrews won a Republican-held Senate seat after final polling averages showed Republicans narrowly ahead.
密西西比州也值得关注。斯科特·科洛姆的参议院竞选极具竞争力，如果他获胜，将标志着该州的巨大转变，那里保守派已主导近 150 年。
Mississippi deserves attention, too. Scott Colom’s Senate bid is extremely competitive, and if he wins, it would mark a huge shift in the state, where conservatives have dominated for nearly 150 years.
在另一条帖子中，总统似乎专门对得克萨斯州提出异议。格雷格·阿博特仍在任，共和党控制着立法机构，那么民主党究竟是如何操纵该州选举的？吉娜·伊诺霍萨击败了一位三届州长，而共和党的重新划区努力却未能奏效。谜底揭晓。没有舞弊的证据，总统也大概率不打算提供任何证据。
In another post, the president seemed to take issue with Texas in particular. Greg Abbott is still in office and Republicans control the legislature, so how then were Democrats able to rig that state’s elections? Gina Hinojosa defeated a three-term governor and Republicans’ redistricting efforts failed to. Mystery solved. There is no evidence of fraud, and the president is likely not planning to offer any evidence either.
你可能还记得今年早些时候，特朗普接受了克里斯滕·韦尔克的专访，并坚称2020年大选和加利福尼亚州初选都被操纵了。
You may remember earlier this year, Trump sat down with Kristen Welker and insisted the 2020 election and the California primary elections were both rigged.
特朗普：“大选被操纵了，这是一场肮脏的选举。而这种事现在正在加利福尼亚州重演。”
TRUMP: “The election was rigged, it was a dirty election. And it’s happening again right now in California.”
韦尔克：“您从未拿出证据证明2020年大选被操纵。证据在哪里？共和党在加利福尼亚州表现良好。”
WELKER: “You’ve never presented evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. Where’s the evidence to that? Republicans are doing well in California.”
特朗普：“不，他们没有，他们的支持率正在迅速下降，因为选举被操纵了。计票要花四天，他们在作弊。”韦尔克：“您有证据支持这一说法吗？”特朗普：“我只需看一眼就知道了。”这次交锋导致这位总统突然起身，离开了采访现场。
TRUMP: No they’re not, they’re dropping fast because it’s a rigged election. It takes four days, they’re cheating.”WELKER: “Do you have evidence to support that?”TRUMP: “All I have to do is look.”The exchange resulted in the president abruptly getting up and leaving the interview.
唐纳德·特朗普一无所获，依然养成了一种习惯，即破坏我们的选举程序，并随意抛出毫无根据的指控。2016年，即便在获胜后，他也虚假声称有数百万无证移民非法投票。2020年，在输给乔·拜登后，他花费数月时间声称大选被窃取。
Donald Trump has learned nothing and continues to make a habit out of undermining our election process and throwing around baseless accusations. In 2016, even after winning, he falsely claimed millions of undocumented immigrants had voted illegally. In 2020, after losing to Joe Biden, he spent months claiming the election was stolen.
请记住随后发生的事：向佐治亚州共和党籍州务卿布拉德·拉芬斯珀格施压，要求“找到”11780张选票；在七个州实施虚假选举人计划；以及要求迈克·彭斯干预选举人票计数。
Remember what followed: pressure on Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to find 11,780 votes, the fake elector scheme across seven states, and his demands that Mike Pence interfere with the electoral count.
随后发生了1月6日国会山骚乱。国会山袭击事件并非与那些努力无关。事发时，国会正在认证拜登的胜选，而特朗普已花费数周时间告诉支持者大选被窃取。
Then came January 6. The Capitol attack was not disconnected from those efforts. It happened as Congress was certifying Biden’s victory, after Trump had spent weeks telling supporters the election was stolen.
这是以最糟糕的方式重演既视感。选民传递了关于经济、政府政策和国家走向的信息。然而，特朗普没有反思为何如此多美国人拒绝支持他的政党，而是再次对选举机制产生怀疑。
This is déjà vu in the worst way. Voters sent a message about the economy, the administration’s policies and the direction of the country. Yet instead of reflecting on why so many Americans rejected his party, Trump is once again casting doubt on the machinery.
我们在2020年已经看到了那条路通向何方。接受结果并做出必要的改变，否则就要为2028年的重演做好准备。
We saw where that road led in 2020. Accept the results and make the necessary changes, or prepare for a repeat in 2028.
林赛·格兰杰是NewsNation的撰稿人，也是《国会山报》评论节目《崛起》的联合主持人。本专栏为其电视评论的编辑版文字记录。
Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.”This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.