Recently, I wrote a post in which I ridiculed an op-ed by CNN’s Joshua Geltzer who expressed his concern that President Trump may not leave the Oval Office peacefully if he loses the 2020 election. Geltzer described steps that can be taken now to prevent the problem and/or address it if it does indeed come to pass. His piece came shortly after Trump had declared a national emergency to fund the border wall.

Since Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen appeared before the House Oversight Committee last Wednesday, this fear has spread throughout liberal circles.

In the closing remarks of his testimony, Cohen said, “Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020, there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”

Apparently, aside from Geltzer, the mainstream media hadn’t given this scenario much thought. But now they’ve latched on to it. They’re worried that, if Trump loses, he might use the “U.S. military to cling to power, or raise a private army of mercenaries or try to deliberately ignite a civil war.”

John Dean, President Nixon’s former White House counsel, famous for testifying against Nixon during the Watergate scandal, initiated the hysteria by calling Cohen’s statement “troubling — actually, chilling” in a New York Times op-ed. He wrote:

Since Mr. Cohen’s warning came in his closing words, there was no opportunity for committee members to ask follow-up questions. So I double-checked with his lawyer, Lanny Davis, if I had understood Mr. Cohen’s testimony correctly. Mr. Davis responded, “He was referring to Trump’s authoritarian mind-set, and lack of respect for democracy and democratic institutions.”

Indeed, what is most similar about my and Mr. Cohen’s testimony is that we both challenged authoritarian presidents of the United States by revealing their lies and abuses of power. Mr. Trump is the first authoritarian president since Mr. Nixon, and neither he nor his supporters will play fair. Mr. Cohen will be dealing with these people the rest of his life.

In fact, all Americans are affected by the growing authoritarianism that made Mr. Trump president. These people who facilitated his rise will remain long after Mr. Trump is gone. We need to pay more attention.

Uber liberal Robert Reich, who served as Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, wrote a similar op-ed in The Guardian in which he warns readers “Michael Cohen says the president will not go quietly if he is beaten in 2020. We should believe him.” He wrote that the “United States is now headed by someone pathologically incapable of admitting defeat. For Trump, losing is the deepest form of humiliation, and humiliation is intolerable.”

MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch also expressed alarm. “If impeachment starts to happen, even if he loses an election, whatever inner move you think this guy is capable of doing to create a civil war, he will [do]. … I’m not speaking hyperbole.”

Yeah, actually you are.

I googled the words “Trump will not leave office if he loses” and in under a second, 75 million results came up. Suffice it to say, this has become a hot topic among the left.

I have a question for all of these people. If Trump wins, will Democrats accept that he is the lawfully elected President?