Dear Liberal Mainstream Media: Have You Forgotten About 2000?
As if on cue from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the liberal mainstream media feigned apoplexy over Donald Trump’s refusal to say whether or not he would accept the results of the Nov. 8 election, sight unseen, three weeks ahead of time.
It would seem they’ve completely forgotten about the highly contentious 2000 election between then-Vice President Al Gore and then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Bush was declared the winner on election night, but Gore refused to concede, and a court battle ensued that took weeks to resolve.
“The effort that I have underway is simply to make sure that all of the votes are counted, and when the issues that are now being considered in the Florida Supreme Court are decided, that will be an important point. But I don’t want to speculate what the court will do,” Gore said. “I am very troubled by a lot of the stories that have been reported. Whenever you have allegations of those kind, that is a matter the entire country ought to take seriously.”
No one in the liberal mainstream media declared his statements as “undemocratic”—the new talking point issued by Clinton and her campaign. It should also be noted it was a question she herself wasn’t forced to answer, but she did respond to Gore’s resistance in 2000—last week.
During a joint appearance in Florida with Gore, Clinton shouted “You won!” repeatedly after he noted his personal experience with close elections. Nodding in approval as the crowd chanted, Gore suggested he won the election, but it was stolen from him.
“Actually you did win,” Clinton added. “It just wasn’t close enough to make sure that the votes were counted.”
In 2002, she let another crowd of supporters know what she really thought of not only the 2000 election, but of President George W. Bush, as well.
“Bush’s machine has raised far more to try to ruin the reputations of our candidates or, if they can’t, to depress the turnout,” she said. “But you know, you have got to hand it to them. These people are ruthless and they are relentless.”
She claimed the president was “selected,” not elected—a common Democrat campaign charge following the 2000 election—a much different picture than has been painted during the 2016 campaign cycle. President Bill Clinton has declared his predecessor (President George H.W. Bush) and his successor (President George W. Bush) are like family.
Again, no one ever suggested anything said was “undemocratic.”
But these aren’t isolated incidents. Bre Payton of The Federalist has compiled a list of eight additional examples of liberals complaining about stolen and rigged elections. It’s a very enlightening read.
