Opinion: Trump wins again. Will Democrats now practice what they've preached on democracy?

I will never forget the shock I felt late on Election Day 2016, when it started to look like Donald Trump would pull off a long shot victory over Hillary Clinton.

In the early morning hours of the next day, it became clear Trump had sealed the deal.

And now, he’s done it again.

Kudos to the reelected president on his victory.

While I have concerns about how Trump will begin his second term in office, including whether he’ll be able to bring together a strong Cabinet and top-notch advisers, I have an even more pressing worry:

Whether Democrats will accept the results of this election and come to terms with Trump as president.

Democrats have spent the past few years lecturing the rest of the country about how Republicans can’t be trusted with the preservation of our constitutional republic. On the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris leaned into alarmist rhetoric, calling Trump a fascist and a threat to democracy.

What happened on Jan. 6, 2021, was a dark day in America’s history, and I hope nothing like that happens again. Trump’s inability to admit his loss in 2020 fueled election conspiracies and ultimately led to violence at our nation’s Capitol.

Now, it will be extremely telling how Democrats handle their loss.

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It's Democrats' time to prove they believe elections

Liberals and their allies in the legacy news media have pounded home the message that our elections are safe and secure, and that there is no widespread voter fraud that occurs in U.S. elections.

That holds true this time, too.

Let’s face it, though. Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, and the left despises Trump like no one else.

Recall that shortly after Trump won eight years ago, the “resistance” movement started right away. Calls of “not my president” were prevalent.

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Trump’s opponents immediately plotted how to undermine him before he even took office, and allegations of Russian collusion – a claim that proved to be false – shadowed Trump’s entire presidency.

Clinton also raised the specter of the 2016 election as “illegitimate,” making her look like a sore loser.

The Women’s March on Washington with attendees wearing their little pink hats was all about protesting a president who had won fair and square. They simply couldn’t stand him.

Will they accept Trump as their president this time, especially after Jan. 6 and now that he is a convicted felon?

Doubtful.

If Democrats are appalled by the results, they should blame themselves

The Democratic Party can only blame itself for the outcome of this election. A stronger, more thoroughly vetted candidate could have likely beat Trump.

President Joe Biden failed to recognize that he wasn’t up to a second term, and Democrats took too long to persuade him to drop out of the race. They also betrayed the country’s trust by trying to hide Biden’s true condition.

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Their own deception prevented Democrats from having a real primary, with candidates given a chance to compete for the job.

Rather, Harris was anointed as the chosen one – with zero input from anyone else.

Harris, a hugely unpopular and ineffective vice president, proved to be a horrible choice, unable to articulate her vision for the country and how she would differ from Biden.

Her only selling point was that she wasn’t Biden and that she wasn’t Trump.

In the end, it wasn’t enough.

Rather than continue to stoke division, Harris and the rest of the party should help progressives move on from their loss.

Trump can serve only four more years. Democrats can take comfort in that.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Opinion: Trump wins 2024 election. Will Democrats accept Harris' loss?