President Trump’s Refusal to Concede the Election: A Lesson Plan on the Peaceful Transfer of Power in a Democracy Text 1: The Daily | A Non-Transfer of Power (Listen from 0:00-8:36 or read the ​ ​ transcript excerpt below.) Hosted by Michael Barbaro; produced by Andy Mills, Michael Simon Johnson, and Leslye Davis; and edited by Lisa Tobin and Alix Spiegel Archived Recording (CROWD CHANTING) Thank you, George! Archived Recording (George H.W. Bush) Thank you so much. Now, here’s the way I see it. Here’s the way we see it, and the country should see it, that the people have spoken and we respect the majesty of the democratic system. [MUSIC] I just called Governor Clinton over in Little Rock and offered my congratulations. He did run a strong campaign. I wish him well in the White House. Archived Recording (John Mccain) Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences and he has prevailed. No doubt, many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face. I urge all Americans — [APPLAUSE] — to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together. Michael Barbaro From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today — Archived Recording I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction. But the nation chose another leader. And so Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. Michael Barbaro — Maggie Haberman on why the traditional transfer of power is not happening this year, and the implications of that delay. It’s Friday, November 13. Maggie, what usually happens when someone has been declared the winner of a presidential election in the United States? Maggie Haberman So Michael, normally what happens is the media, various outlets, make calls on election night, or shortly after, declaring a winner. Archived Recording (Richard Nixon) My congratulations to Senator Kennedy for his fine race in this campaign. Maggie Haberman The person who has lost concedes. Archived Recording (Herbert Humphrey) I have lost. Mr. Nixon has won. The democratic process has worked its will. So now let’s get on with the urgent task of uniting our country. Maggie Haberman There is usually a phone call between the two. Archived Recording A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him — [CROWD BOOING] Please. — To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. Maggie Haberman And then that concession allows the formal transfer of power to begin. Archived Recording (George H.W. Bush) I want the country to know that our entire administration will work closely with his team to ensure the smooth transition of power. There is important work to be done, and America must always come first. So we will get behind this new president and wish him well. Maggie Haberman Within days, there is often a formal meeting between the outgoing president and the incoming president. Archived Recording (George W. Bush) Last night I extended an invitation to the president-elect and Mrs. Obama to come to the White House. Maggie Haberman These kinds of meetings have happened even after the hardest-fought contests. Archived Recording (George W. Bush) It’ll be a stirring sight to watch President Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their beautiful girls step through the doors of the White House. Maggie Haberman In 2008, when you had President Obama running against George W. Bush’s record, Bush still invited Obama in when he won. Archived Recording (George W. Bush) I told the president-elect he can count on complete cooperation from my administration as he makes the transition to the White House. Archived Recording (Barack Obama) I had a chance to talk to President-elect Trump last night — Maggie Haberman In 2016 — Archived Recording (Barack Obama) — to congratulate him on winning the election. And I had a chance to invite him to come to the White House tomorrow. Maggie Haberman — after Donald Trump questioned whether President Obama was a legitimate president by creating a lie about his birthplace — Archived Recording (Barack Obama) We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country. Maggie Haberman — President Obama still sat with him for a 90-minute meeting in the Oval Office to demonstrate his continuity of government. Archived Recording (Barack Obama) Now, it is no secret that the president-elect and I have some pretty significant differences. But remember, eight years ago, President Bush and I had some pretty significant differences. But President Bush’s team could not have been more professional or more gracious in making sure we had a smooth transition so that we could hit the ground running. Archived Recording (Al Gore) I say to President-elect Bush that what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside. And may God bless his stewardship of this country. Maggie Haberman Even in elections where there have been bitter court fights — Archived Recording Neither he nor I anticipated this long and difficult road. Certainly neither of us wanted it to happen. Maggie Haberman — like the 2000 recount election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Archived Recording Yet, it came, and now it has ended — resolved, as it must be resolved, through the honored institutions of our democracy. Maggie Haberman You had Al Gore accept the results, even though Democrats were incredibly upset about them. And this acceptance of the result is a hugely important signal to voters that people should have faith in the process and that democratic norms are being respected. Michael Barbaro So Maggie, these are the rituals around the transfer of power meant for public consumption. What usually happens behind the scenes during this time period? Maggie Haberman When there is a concession, the administrator of the General Services Administration of the federal government puts forward what’s called an ascertainment. And that means they have ascertained who the next president will be, who the president-elect is. And that puts in place a pot of money being available to the incoming president, incoming administration, and allows agencies to begin the process of the transfer of power — briefing books, meetings, so-called “landing teams” or “beachhead teams,” as they are often called for the incoming administration, meeting with agency officials to talk about what work needs to be done, how they want to handle the transfer of power. In the case of Joe Biden, there are a lot of people who have been in government before, which always helps. But they still need to figure out where things stand on a whole range of issues going forward. Michael Barbaro And what has been happening this year in the now six days since Joe Biden was declared the president-elect? Maggie Haberman So basically, Michael, everything that I just described as what normally happens has not happened. None of it. Michael Barbaro And what has happened instead? Maggie Haberman What’s happened, instead, Michael, is President Trump has refused to concede. He has been in the Oval Office tweeting, very frequently, news clips or things he sees on Twitter that he insists affirm his belief that he has won the election. But that has meant that everything is in limbo. Joe Biden has not started getting intelligence briefings. There has not been agency handoffs with the incoming team. There has been a delay in the number of appointments that Biden has announced. And we don’t have full clarity on this, because of security reasons. But there might have been a delay in Joe Biden getting the full complement of Secret Service protection that an incoming president gets. Michael Barbaro So suffice it to say, this is not the usual transition. This is, in fact, the complete opposite of the usual transition. In fact, this isn’t really a transition at all. Maggie Haberman Correct. There is, so far, no transition. There is just a standstill. Archived Recording (Lindsey Graham) I’m here tonight to stand with President Trump. He stood with me. He’s the reason we’re going to have a Senate majority. He helped Senate Republicans who are going to pick up House seats because of the campaign that President Trump won. Maggie Haberman And so far, the president is being supported in this by a number of top Republican officials. Archived Recording Senator, have you congratulated Vice President Biden yet? Archived Recording (Mike Pompeo) No. Archived Recording There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration. Maggie Haberman That includes Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority leader. Archived Recording (Mitch Mcconnell) Let’s not have any lectures about how the president should immediately, cheerfully accept preliminary election results from the same characters who just spent four years refusing to accept the validity of the last election. Maggie Haberman That includes a number of 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls. Archived Recording (Ted Cruz) By throwing the observers out, by clouding the vote counting in a shroud of darkness, they are setting the stage to potentially steal an election. It is lawless and they need to follow the law. Maggie Haberman The vast majority of Republicans are either not contradicting what the president is doing or mouthing words that sound as if they’re being supportive, because most Republicans are afraid to go against him on this.