{"id":1384,"date":"2026-07-17T17:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384"},"modified":"2026-07-17T17:00:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:00:27","slug":"susan-collins-is-not-concerned-about-election-denial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384","title":{"rendered":"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

When Jay Clayton, Donald Trump\u2019s nominee for the next director of national intelligence, appeared before the Senate on Wednesday, Jon Ossoff of Georgia had a simple question for him: Who won the 2020 election? Clayton dodged and squirmed. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna engage in the theater,\u201d he insisted, at one point simply going silent when Ossoff repeated the question.<\/p>\n

Read more A Pulitzer Winner Who Keeps Pushing Himself<\/a><\/p>\n

Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, took in the exchange and seems to have concluded that Clayton performed rather well. Buttonholed in the Senate hallway by CNN\u2019s Manu Raju, Collins said, \u201cThe Office of the Director of National Intelligence does not certify elections, and he made very clear over and over again that Joe Biden had been certified as the winner of the election.\u201d Clayton, she continued, \u201cdid a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stating that Biden was certified<\/i> as the winner of the 2020 election, as Clayton and other Trump supporters have done, does not in any way contradict Trump\u2019s blizzard of falsehoods. Trump does not claim that he actually served as president from 2021 to 2025. His specific lie is that Joe Biden stole the election, a plot that, had it been carried out, would have required Biden to be certified as its winner. If Biden were not certified as the winner, he couldn\u2019t have stolen the election.<\/p>\n

More important, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has played a crucial role in Trump\u2019s antidemocratic maneuvers. As Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan report in Regime Change<\/i>, their new book on the Trump presidency, Trump counted on Tulsi Gabbard, his previous DNI, \u201cfor using intelligence in personal-revenge missions.\u201d Gabbard participated in an extraordinary raid to seize ballots in Georgia, a task unrelated to the ODNI\u2019s formal mission but intimately connected to the one Trump chose for it.<\/p>\n

The ODNI supplied the intelligence findings, such as they are, for the president\u2019s strange speech about election security last night. Employing a peculiar combination of hysteria, innuendo, and lifeless delivery, the president asserted that \u201cour elections were left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen, and the trust of the American people was lost,\u201d and that \u201cwe can never watch a stolen election again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toward the end of his address, Trump made gestures of bipartisanship. \u201cEvery American, whether you\u2019re a Republican, Democrat, independent, or otherwise, should be able to agree that we deserve the most secure, honest, and fair election system anywhere in the world,\u201d he said. This offers little reassurance, given that Trump has, at other points in time, basically defined a fair election system as one in which his party would never lose.<\/p>\n

Republican officials are treating this chilling rant as little more than an annoying distraction. Trump, they complained to reporters before the speech, ought to be focusing on the cost of living. Afterward, they felt comfortable that he came off, relative to the deranged standard to which they\u2019ve grown acclimated, fairly sober. \u201cIt was as on the rails as possible,\u201d a White House official told Politico<\/i>. \u201cThe senior team just talked and prepped him. I think they explained the way to be taken seriously is not to be crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Researchers Who Want Dads-to-Be to Stop Drinking<\/a><\/p>\n

Concern, of course, is Collins\u2019s signature response to Trump-era abuses. One can almost imagine Soviet officials\u2014in the wake of Joseph Stalin\u2019s 1953 allegation of a \u2014expressing reassurance that the general secretary had limited the targets of his wrath while expressing concern that he had missed an opportunity to share tips on improving the potato harvest.<\/p>\n

The amazing thing is that Collins\u2019s reaction to Clayton\u2019s nomination, and his disciplined refusal to contradict Trump\u2019s election lies, did not even rise to the level of concern. Her position indicates more about the state of the Republican Party than her reaction to Trump\u2019s speech does. Of all Trump\u2019s illiberal impulses, his refusal to accept the legitimacy of election defeats is the most dire. And of all the Republican members of the Senate, Collins is, at least historically, the most moderate. She is faced with the risk of a career-ending reelection defeat in four months.<\/p>\n

Despite all of this, she apparently finds it an easy call to place an official who refuses to accept the obvious reality of Trump\u2019s 2020 defeat in a position that he could use to help undermine American elections. More than a decade into the Trump era, Republicans such as Collins are still treating mortal threats to the republic as a sideshow that distracts from the main business of cutting taxes, confirming judges, and deregulating industries.<\/p>\n

In his speech, Trump seemed to plead with his fellow Republicans to recognize the seriousness of his accusations. \u201cNo country can be great without fair and honest elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Although Trump is wrong about the nature of the threat to free and fair elections, he is correct about their importance. Maintaining free and fair elections is a foundational condition for the United States. A threat to elections supersedes any other matter in importance. A party that met its democratic responsibilities would treat a failure to accept electoral defeats as automatic disqualification for any office. Collins\u2019s untroubled support for Clayton reveals how far below this simple baseline her entire party has sunk.<\/p>\n

Read more Atlantic Trivia: Shakespeareology<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mortal threats to the republic are apparently a sideshow that distracts from cutting taxes, confirming judges, and deregulation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ideas"],"yoast_head":"\nSusan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial - Commercial Relocation Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial - Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mortal threats to the republic are apparently a sideshow that distracts from cutting taxes, confirming judges, and deregulation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T17:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"headline\":\"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T17:00:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384\"},\"wordCount\":900,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4d1b412569b9b6852a1486f20f37030f.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ideas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384\",\"name\":\"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial - Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4d1b412569b9b6852a1486f20f37030f.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T17:00:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4d1b412569b9b6852a1486f20f37030f.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4d1b412569b9b6852a1486f20f37030f.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":625},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1384#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial - Commercial Relocation Pros","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial - Commercial Relocation Pros","og_description":"Mortal threats to the republic are apparently a sideshow that distracts from cutting taxes, confirming judges, and deregulation.","og_url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384","og_site_name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","article_published_time":"2026-07-17T17:00:27+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"headline":"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial","datePublished":"2026-07-17T17:00:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384"},"wordCount":900,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4d1b412569b9b6852a1486f20f37030f.avif","articleSection":["Ideas"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384","name":"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial - Commercial Relocation Pros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4d1b412569b9b6852a1486f20f37030f.avif","datePublished":"2026-07-17T17:00:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4d1b412569b9b6852a1486f20f37030f.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4d1b412569b9b6852a1486f20f37030f.avif","width":1200,"height":625},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1384#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/","name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com"],"url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}