Such acquiescence has been ruinous for elected officials who have sworn an oath to the Constitution. These lawmakers have been complicit in perpetuating falsehoods about the election by failing to refute or rebuke the president.
The theory, seemingly, is that eventually this would all work out. As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, “The future will take care of itself.” That’s a rosy view that assumes all this toothpaste can be put back in the tube, that Trump will suddenly go silent, that his followers will accept Biden as president and that no one will remember this fraught period between the election and the inauguration.