2020 UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL POLL AND CAPITOL HILL ASSAULT: TUMBLE FROM A DEMOCRATIC MORAL HIGH GROUND

Abstract

Over 150 million Americans voted in their 3rd November 2020 presidential election. The poll recorded the highest number of voters since the creation of the United States of America (USA) over two centuries ago. The defeated GOP candidate and incumbent President Trump broke from the long-established tradition to concede. He instituted over sixty legal challenges of results of the poll without success. After multiple legal failures, he birthed conspiracy theories that end with a single message: ‘his mandate was stolen.’ This message instigated his supporters’ assault on Capitol Hill by insurrectionists on 6th January 2021. That singular decision liquidated cherished traditions of conceding to the will of the people, peaceful transfer of power, and faith in the American electoral system. A confluence of those events denied the Americans the moral strength to preach liberal democratic ideals at the global stage -- a mission they have been leading along with its allies since 1945, even long before then. This study was guided by the theory of American Exceptionalism that is traceable to the nation’s founding philosophy. The study relied on secondary sources of data from periodicals, journals, statements from political actors, and think tank reports. Conclusions and suggestions stemmed from facts encountered in various data consulted and analyzed.