America is 'stumbling into a constitutional crisis' as GOP attacks the electoral process

On Tuesday, writing for NBC News, Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Carrie Dann, and Melissa Holzberg argued that America's democratic institutions are threatened by the GOP's refusal to accept the legitimacy of the election.

"In 2016, Donald Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a combined 77,000 votes; he got 306 electoral votes; and he received a concession speech by Hillary Clinton and a White House meeting with Barack Obama 48 hours after the election," they wrote. "In 2020, Joe Biden won those same three states by a combined 214,000 votes (and counting); he’s on track for an identical 306 electoral votes; and Trump, his administration and GOP leaders are still refusing to recognize the outcome. While it’s easy to dismiss this refusal as the last gasp of Trumpism — Republicans trying to appease the president one last time before he exits the White House — it also feels close to a country stumbling into a constitutional crisis."

Among the danger signs, they wrote, are that Trump's General Services Administration director is refusing to sign the papers to begin the transition; that Attorney General William Barr is authorizing DOJ prosecutors to investigate the vote in states Biden won; that Georgia GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are demanding the resignation of a Republican Secretary of State who counted the votes showing Biden won the state; and that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is giving his imprimatur to all of this.

"Trump lost, but most Republicans are still acting like they’re afraid of him," they concluded.