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Schmidt, senior adviser to John McCain’s failed 2008 presidential campaign, suggested that the Republican nominee might refuse to concede the election and provoke his supporters by claiming the election was rigged.
Schmidt described Trump’s appeal to his base as being “toxic for democracy” while speaking with political commentator Mike Barnicle and with commentator and media personality James Carville, who first rose to prominence for his work as the lead strategist for the successful presidential campaign of Bill Clinton in 1992.
Barnicle began by pointing out that Trump has already been laying the groundwork for the idea of it being “an illegitimate election” if he loses.
“Trump has a core constituency that’s not going anywhere. It’s going to stick with him and believe in him and what he says no matter what,” he continued, warning: “this does not bode well for the future of the republic that this is going to be out there for years to come. The illegitimacy, the rigged election, the emasculated presidency.”
Schmidt agreed, stating that “this is incredibly toxic for a democracy.”
“The first person who addresses the Victor in a presidential election that matters, right, isn’t the staff. It’s the opponent. It was John McCain calling Barack Obama,” he stated. “But making that concession call, that kicks off the process of the peaceful transition of power. The loser grants legitimacy to the winner through the concession speech.”
Carville interjected that “if one guy could have taken his army and gone in the woods and conducted guerilla warfare, it would have been Al Gore,” the clear implication being that he didn’t do so.
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