How Far Is Too Far When Questioning The Legitimacy Of An Election?

Despite her strong support for President Donald Trump, Nashville resident Rebecca Factor won’t be participating in any Inauguration Day protests.

She’s part of the community of Trump voters who’ve been divided on accepting the results of the 2020 presidential election. Some of the president’s supporters say they’re ready to move on, while others — like Factor — aren’t convinced that this is the end of his presidency.

“My personal belief is Trump will be our president the next four years,” says Factor. “Biden will not be sworn in. You just have to wait and see.”

Factor doesn’t consider herself to be overly political, but she has developed strong beliefs over the years.

For one, she doesn’t believe Barack Obama was a U.S. citizen when he was elected president. His birth certificate was released in 2011 saying otherwise. For another, she does believe that Trump is one of the few politicians who haven’t been corrupted. She also says the election is a sign that Jesus is coming back.

Now, on the eve of the inauguration, Factor says she’s leaving Facebook and switching to social media apps Parler and GAB. The apps have been criticized for a lack of moderation and allowing users to incite political violence. Parler was suspended from the Apple and Google download stores earlier this month.

But Factor, who’s had several of her Facebook posts flagged for false information, says at least she won’t be censored on those platforms. She gets a lot of her information from pro-Trump sources, including what she’s hearing about inauguration gatherings.

Rachel Iacovone WPLN News

A helicopter circles over the Tennessee State Capitol on Sunday.

“From my understanding, there are lots of anti-Trump groups that will be there to cause havoc and blame it on Trump,” says Factor. “This is well known throughout the Trump supporter community.”

More: Law Enforcement In Nashville Is Prepping For Planned Demonstrations — But Won’t Say How

On Sunday, a pro-Trump protest drew more Nashville reporters than rally goers. Despite some downtown businesses boarding up windows “in abundance of caution,” and preparations from police, the grounds of the state capitol were nearly empty.

I’m downtown with @damonmtll_ for a pro-Trump protest that’s been rumored but not confirmed all week. There’s a couple dozen members of the media here and not a single protester, as a presumably MNPD helicopter flies overhead and troopers look down from the Capitol steps. @WPLN

— Rachel Iacovone (@racheliacovone) January 17, 2021

‘Democracy demands that they participate’

Factor’s questioning of the legitimacy of the electoral process isn’t necessarily surprising, says Allison Anoll, a professor at Vanderbilt University who studies political behavior and its connection to mass protests. In the past two decades, she says, “there have been challenges to whether presidential elections have been free and fair — from the left and from the right.”

“I think from the people’s perspective, democracy demands that they participate when they think there’s something bad and fraudulent happening. And we can debate what the right way to do that is.”

She points to the Bush-Gore election results in 2000, the Obama-era birther movement and the recent investigation into foreign interference surrounding Trump’s election.

The difference now, she says, is people are taking things into their own hands, instead of going through institutions to improve the system. Her biggest concern is that some voters could be crossing the line.

“Most of the movements in the past have pushed us to try to get more be democratic,” says Anoll. “And are we at a point where we are trying to get less democratic?”

Giving Biden a chance

The question of where the country is headed after a politically dived year is something that Colin Fulgenzi has been thinking about since Election Day. He voted for Trump but has a neutral political stance. Fulgenzi says he was particularly shocked by the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.

“It seemed like it was the other side that was so much closer to taking those types of actions,” says Fulgenzi. “I was actually surprised to see the Republican side go that same direction after condemning it.”

Fulgenzi says he wasn’t necessarily excited to vote for Trump. He almost didn’t vote. His decision, he says, came down to picking the best worst option.

And although he was hopeful that Trump’s legal challenges would turn out in his favor, he doesn’t believe President-elect Joe Biden will be an illegitimate president.

“There has to be the hope of people that want this thing to die down and get back to even,” says Fulgenzi. “Otherwise, it’s not going to happen.”

He says it won’t be surprising, though, if Biden’s presidency is challenged over the next few years.

WPLN’s Rachel Iacovone contributed to this story.