

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks Wednesday night during the third presidential debate, in Las Vegas. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The closing stages of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign have been a joke. A sick joke, to be sure, but a joke nonetheless. He is still the GOP nominee, but a third debate defeat further cemented the pathetic finish to his presidential campaign. True to form — see his pouting reaction to defeat in Iowa’s caucuses — the TV celebrity’s quest will end not with a bang, but with a prolonged whine. With a crushing Election Day defeat looming, the danger Trump has posed to our democratic system is fast disappearing, with one exception: his threat to possibly reject the election result because it will be “rigged.” He refused to commit to accepting the result at Wednesday’s debate, and he kept the door open at a rally Thursday morning, telling supporters, “I would like to promise and pledge … that I will totally accept the results of this presidential election — if I win.” Republicans who otherwise have capitulated to Trump must soundly reject him on this, not just for their own records, but for the country.

A few Republicans have done so: Sens. Lindsey Graham, Jeff Flake and Marco Rubio, and the list is growing. They deserve credit. But Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus and Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, both tried to cover for Trump, and scores of others have been silent. There’s been no word from House Speaker Paul Ryan, nor from Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Here are key moments from the third and final presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, Oct. 19, in Las Vegas. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

Republicans will try three different ways to duck condemning Trump. The first, as exemplified by Priebus and Pence, will be pretending Trump said something other than what he actually said. “He is going to accept the results of the election,” Priebus told NBC’s Hallie Jackson after the debate last night. Pence claimed Sunday that Trump’s talk of a “rigged” election only referred to “the obvious bias in the national media.” (Trump helpfully clarified a few hours later that the “rigging” included “many polling places.”)

The second: pretending that Trump is just doing the same thing as Al Gore in 2000. No, he isn’t. Gore conceded the election as soon as the Supreme Court handed down its ruling. Before that, Gore didn’t even have to ask for a recount: The margin in Florida was so close that it automatically triggered the recount. And before Election Day, Gore never said anything about a “rigged” vote.

The third and most insidious: saying that Trump is just concerned about voter fraud and that he’s right to be. (Priebus has already done this.) It’s bad enough that claims of widespread voter fraud are demonstrably false: There have been more than 1 billion votes cast in the United States since 2000, yet only 31 incidents of voter impersonation. And a “rigged” election would require state and county-level officials across the country, many of whom are Republicans, to be in on the conspiracy. Worse, this defense continues the sowing of distrust in government-reported figures — not just vote totals, but job and economic growth numbers — that has helped fuel Trump’s rise.

Many Republicans won’t want to talk about Trump’s claims at all. Yet even if they feel they can’t pull their endorsement, they must speak up for democracy. For better or for worse, the only sure way to quash this last Trump threat is for the GOP to marshal against him. In all likelihood, Trump’s attempt to burn the system down will go the way of Trump Steaks. But there may come a time when a would-be-fascist/nominee of a major party isn’t also a total clown, when Trump’s sad mischief, if entertained today, could provide an opening for the demagogue of tomorrow. Republicans — and the country — cannot take that risk.