This. "Who won in 2020' is also implicitly asking "what will you do if you lose in 2024". A (small-d) democrat would say "hold the winner to account, and put together a winning plan to contest and win the elections in 2026 and 2028". An undemocratic one says "reject the result, take power anyway"

There’s always “flee the country ahead of the winner’s secret police” but I guess we can’t say that.

The Capitol redux won't be how this will play out. It will happen at the local level. Voter intimidation, delays to counts, legal nonsense, will all delay certainty and allow conspiracy theory to gain traction. People preparing to defend against Jan 6 style activity are making a mistake.

The mother of all litmus tests.

Or to be a little bit more direct here, the question is "are you contesting this election as political opponents, who will win or lose at the ballot box, or are you contesting democracy /itself/ and who will then need to be defeated via other means"

You could phrase the question as "Will you accept the results of the 2024 election regardless of outcome?" At this point people have their minds made up on the 2020 election. It's not the gotcha the Dems expect it to be for undecided voters - I think the real question is will you accept this vote?

I am not sure Republicans are actually thinking through the implications of their actions here as much as they are afraid Trump will attack them and turn GOP voters against them, though the practical effect is exactly as you describe here.

Don't know why more interviewers aren't holding Republicans' feet to the fire on the implicit assertion that Donald Trump is right now the real and rightful president.