Trump's threats to reject peaceful transition have made America look 'ridiculous the world over': historian

On CNN Saturday, historian Douglas Brinkley warned that President Donald Trump's repeated threats to reject a peaceful transition of power are a national humiliation for America on the world stage.

"I want to point out something that you told The New York Times on the president's election doubts," said anchor Christi Paul. "Your quote is, 'This may be the most damaging thing he's ever done to American democracy.' How so?"

"Because our great export in the United States is our free and fair elections," said Brinkley. "So we tell the rest of the world how to hold them and now here we are in 2020, mayhem about to happen, president of the United States talking about fraudulent ballots, rigged election, I may not leave even if I lose. It makes us look ridiculous the world over. We've lost our franchise on free and fair elections. You almost feel like we need a group of nations to monitor our own election, instead of the other way around."

"It's a sad sight to watch a president of the United States be that paranoid and insecure because he's down in the polls by ten points, nine points, doesn't seem to be getting any momentum — to resort to just trashing the whole democratic electoral system," added Brinkley.

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