Yesterday, President Trump took to Truth Social for yet another rant about the 2020 election.

So, with the revelation of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION  in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great “Founders” did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!

Yes, this is the actual “truth” as posted by President Trump or a staffer on his behalf. It is not fake or photoshopped.

First, let’s get down to the facts. The Constitution does not permit “do-overs.” There is a process whereby the states vote via the Electoral College, and Congress certifies the result. While I’m sympathetic to President Trump’s claims and have little personal doubt that election fraud changed the vote in some states, that claim is hamstrung by the absence of forensic evidence to substantiate the claim. Even with the proof, it was over once the election was certified.

The Founders would not have wanted false or fraudulent elections, but they were also realists who knew that in late 18th century America, election fraud was a way of life. If you haven’t read a lot about the Early Republic and roving bands of voters (why do you think a specific election day made its way into the Constitution?), give this article a try. The very fact that the Founders did not make provisions for re-doing elections tainted by fraud is a strong indicator that they valued the finality of the process over lengthy wrangling over results.

But then, in my view, historical myopia is dwarfed by the nuttiness of the idea that the Constitution can be set aside. That, in turn, is reduced to nothing by giving the Democrats the ability to claim that they are the party that defends the Constitution. It gives the Biden White House the opportunity to issue this statement:

The American Constitution is a sacrosanct document that for over 200 years has guaranteed that freedom and the rule of law prevail in our great country. The Constitution brings the American people together – regardless of party – and elected leaders swear to uphold it.

It’s the ultimate monument to all of the Americans who have given their lives to defeat self-serving despots that abused their power and trampled on fundamental rights. Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned. You cannot only love America when you win.

This is all correct, not that the Democrats actually believe in it. But President Trump’s statement has opened the door for them to claim the high ground.

What concerns me about statements like this coming from President Trump is:

First, this is the same lack of disciplined communication that marred his tenure in office. It doesn’t move the ball forward; rather, it directs attention onto President Trump for, as far as I can tell, the sole purpose of directed attention to President Trump.

Second, it is a rhetorical own-goal. You can’t, on the one hand, claim you are all about defending the Constitution if, at the same time, you are making a special pleading that your case is extra-Constitutional.

Third, it calls into question President Trump’s ability to campaign in 2024. It is one thing to say, “we were cheated, and we won’t let it happen again.” Two years after Congress certified the results, it is quite another to demand that he be, QAnon-like, placed into the presidency. We saw the downside of this claim in the Georgia Senate runoff in 2020, when President Trump’s harping on electoral fraud caused a lot of voters to stay home because they were convinced any outcome would be fraudulent.

When this is combined with the Kanye-West-Nick-Fuentes fiasco (Trump Owes Us More Than an Explanation on the Kanye-Fuentes Fiasco; He Needs to Show It Won’t Happen Again), one really has to question if President Trump learned anything at all from his term in the White House–other than he has a loyal fanbase who will support him no matter what.

Unfortunately, he seems to be blinded to the fact that many GOP voters want to win, and they want to win with a candidate who can take a flamethrower to the status quo, Top Polling Firm Survey Finds Good News for DeSantis, Not so Much for Trump — Even Among Trump Voters. What we don’t need is a coronation, particularly of a candidate who doesn’t seem able to stop stomping on his own peepee with golf cleats (Let’s Have Ourselves a Raucous, Robust Republican Presidential Primary).