Dear John,

As Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, explained on this week’s new episode of the Ms. podcast, On The Issues with Michele Goodwin: “We are at a deeply dangerous time for our democracy… The President has been unrelenting in his disinformation campaign, really aimed at sowing chaos and confusion, and delegitimizing a now-settled outcome that the voters decided.” 

Gupta’s analysis is spot on—and frightening. We are facing an unprecedented period in the history of our democracy. We’re now two weeks past Joe Biden’s victory, and Trump has continued to refuse to publicly accept the results of the election or concede, as the majority of Republicans continue to prioritize Trump’s ego over the stability of our democracy. And the Trump administration is using the lame duck period—the time between now and when President-elect Biden is inaugurated and a new Congress convenes—to do as much damage as possible on the way out the door. 

Now, why do I say all of this? It’s not to frighten you—but to prepare you. As Gupta explained in the podcast this week: 

“There’s a strong suspicion that Trump will never concede. Concession, and owning results that he doesn’t like, doesn’t seem to be in his past experience or DNA. But, the fact of the matter is that our democracy and our systems are set up so that the loser of an election doesn’t get to decide the outcome. The Constitution doesn’t require a concession.” 

I will say that again: The loser of an election doesn’t get to decide the outcome. Donald Trump does not get to decide who is inaugurated on January 20, 2021—the voters already have. But that doesn’t mean we can simply relax—we must stay vigilant against Trump’s efforts to sow disinformation and the Trump administration’s rushing through of last-minute regulations designed to prevent the incoming administration from restoring civil rights protections and expanding health care access. 

Our team here at Ms. will continue our daily reporting on the damaging actions by the outgoing Trump administration. If you’d like to support our work, I ask that you chip in to help us launch the Ms. Emergency Reporting Fund. A generous donor has pledged to match 20 donations of $500—but only if we raise $10,000 by Thanksgiving! I hope we can count on your support. 

For equality,

Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor