Our View: Trump's 'rigged election' claims are ruining politics

• Trump's attack on the integrity of the election is one more example of his unfitness
• It is dangerous of a major party candidate to feed wacko conspiracy theories
• The peaceful transfer of power is a historic precedent Trump should honor

Some of Donald Trump’s supporters like to repeat that Thomas Jefferson quote about refreshing the tree of liberty “with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Donald Trump is more interested in infecting the tree of liberty with a nasty root borer.

Nothing more clearly illustrates Trump’s unfitness to be president than his attack on the integrity of this nation’s election process.

Trump’s charge that any election he loses is “rigged” shows a profound disrespect for two centuries of American history.

His talk of rigged elections is baseless, malicious and likely to backfire.

Why? Because it so fully illustrates Trump's inability to grasp what it means to be a public servant.

But it is also dangerous.

This is more than sore-loser whining

Coming from a major party candidate and delivered in mainstream venues, the rigged-election narrative gains a veneer of legitimacy it does not deserve.

Like an ugly grub chewing away at the root of a mighty tree, it can do lasting damage.

America’s political extremists – right and left – love conspiracy theories. Trump is helping them hatch a doozy. By questioning the legitimacy of our elections, he is undermining the legitimacy of those who win – unless, he says, he is the winner.

Really?

ROBB:Why is anyone still listening to Trump, Clinton?

After refusing to say he would accept the results of the presidential election, Trump later said he would honor results – if he is the victor.

Is this a playground or a presidential race?

Polls show that a Trump victory increasingly unlikely. In fact, Trump’s realization that he's losing may have animated this attack on the integrity of our elections.

Just as he promoted the ridiculous “birther” movement that questioned President Barack Obama’s legitimacy, Trump is making a preemptive strike against the legitimacy of the woman who is likely to beat him in the race for the White House.

Imagine if Gore had done the same in 2000

Either he doesn't know or doesn't care that public confidence in the electoral process has been a source of national strength.

When the 2000 presidential contest between Al Gore and George W. Bush came down to a Florida recount and a U.S. Supreme Court call to stop the counting, a razor-thin victory went to Bush.

Gore did not rail against a “rigged” system. He conceded the election and promised to do “everything possible” to help Bush “bring the country together.” That was patriotism.

Imagine if Gore – instead of putting the country first – had spent the months leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack undermining Bush's legitimacy to hold office. Our national tragedy would have been compounded by a manufactured crisis of confidence.

VALDEZ: Lessons learned (only temporarily) from 9/11

There were Democrats who felt Gore was the real winner, but they accepted the Bush presidency and were ready to unite behind him after 9-11.

Ironically, it is Democrats who have grumbled for years that Republican legislatures are trying to suppress turnout on the left through voter identification requirements and other restrictions, such as Arizona’s ban on ballot harvesting.

This impugns innocent Republicans, too

Republicans in Arizona have been closely scrutinizing our election process for some time, and virtually no evidence has been found of voter fraud – let alone the kind of widespread “rigging” that Trump alleges.

In our state, his attack on the integrity of the election is also an attack on Arizona’s Republican Secretary of State Michele Reagan, who is not likely to be part of some massive left-wing conspiracy to tip the election for Hillary Clinton.

MORE:Is election rigged? Arizona GOP says no

In fact, Republicans are the top elections officials in many other states, including Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah and Washington.

Are these Republicans willing participants in a rigged system?

Trump's reckless attempt to undermine confidence in the election is perhaps the most egregious example of his unfitness. But it is not the only one.