As the presidential limousine meandered its way through Washington, protests lined the streets of the nation’s capital; some even resorting to launching a barrage of eggs at the vehicle, often dubbed “The Beast”. Alongside this, protestors yielded placards decorated with slogans such as “What Mandate you Nitwit?”, “VoterGate”, and “Not my President.” Yet, the President-elect was George W. Bush, not Joe Biden.

The year 2001 not 2021. Allegations of voter fraud would not only dominate the election of George W. Bush, but the race for the White House in 2020.

Throughout the election, Donald Trump and his bedrock of loyal MAGA devotees peddled the idea of the election being “stolen”, before a single ballot paper had been crossed. A mere two days after the votes were cast on the 3rd of November, Trump asserted that there was “tremendous corruption and fraud going on. If you count the legal votes, I won”—a statement of flagrant deception, given the lack of credible evidence of voter fraud occurring.

At the time of writing, the American electorate appears virtually split down the middle when it comes to their support for Kamala Harris, the former Attorney General and Senator for California, and Donald Trump, a convicted felon. The support for Trump has stagnated, yet remains considerable, which raises the question: Is American democracy in crisis? On the face of it, the fact that so many Americans are projected to vote for Trump provokes shock.

However, a cursory glance through modern American political history can provide answers. As previously described, the reaction to the election of George W. Bush proved fierce—with many Americans perceiving the result to be a fraudulent one.

The roots of this perception can be traced back to one state; Florida. By 20:00 on election night, all the major television networks had unanimously declared Gore to have taken Florida, sparking scenes of jubilation in the Gore camp. However, within two hours, the picture had dramatically—with Florida reverting back to being categorised as “undecided.” Amidst the everchanging picture, the threshold for a recount of Florida was met, which served to plunge the entire presidential race into complete uncertainty.

Following weeks of judicial toing and froing, the Supreme Court voted 5–4 to deem a statewide recount of ballots unconstitutional— leaving many Americans with an idea of American democracy being broken—a sentiment echoed by Trump in his desire to “drain the swamp” of American politics. The perception of American democracy being corrupted is not simply a phenomenon exclusive to the 21st century, propagated solely by Gore-backing Democrats or the MAGA masses of today. For older Americans, memories of Watergate still run strong.

From the hiring of Cuban emigres by Howard Hunt to break into the Watergate building; to the sanctioned burglary of the office of a psychiatrist who had been offering counselling to Daniel Ellsberg—the man responsible for the leaking of the Pentagon Papers—the Nixon administration was awash with criminality and served to pollute the image of American democracy. In light of the effects of Watergate and the blocking of a recount in Florida, it is a succinct argument to suggest the rise of Trump is simply the result of decades of discontent amongst the American people at the standards and, ultimately, the state of their democracy. The only question that is left is this: how did so few people see Trump coming?