Flashback: Trump accused Ted Cruz of election theft

Ted Cruz in 2016.
(Image credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

With 72 days to go until Joe Biden is sworn into office as the 46th president of the United States, the country remains wrapped up in what CNN calls "the unprecedented spectacle of a president who has lost the election declining to accept reality." Rather than take his own advice — mockingly aimed at his political adversary, Hillary Clinton, in 2016 — to "lose with dignity," President Trump continues to assert, without any evidence, that the presidential election was "stolen" from him.

Trump has a long history of refusing to accept his losses with anything close to dignity, though. Take this tweet from when he was in the Republican primaries (which, of course, he went on to win), when he tested out the approach on Ted Cruz:

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.