Nations long targeted by U.S. chide Trump’s claims of fraud

Demands to avoid the vote count. Baseless accusations of fraud. Claims that the opposition is wanting to “steal” the election.

Across the world, many were scratching their heads Friday - especially in countries which may have always been advised by Washington how to perform elections -- wondering if those assertions could truly be from the president of america, the nation considered among the world’s most emblematic democracies.

“Who’s the banana republic now?” Colombian daily newspaper Publimetro chided on leading page with a photography of a guy in a U.S. flag print mask.

The irony of seeing U.S. Donald Trump cut off by major media networks Thursday as he launched unsubstantiated claims lambasting the U.S. electoral system had not been lost on many. The U.S. is definitely a vocal critic of strongman tactics all over the world. Now, some of those same targets are turning around the finger.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro laughed as the vote dragged on past Tuesday, briefly breaking in to the hymn of his nation’s total annual beauty contest on state TV, singing, “On a night prefer to night, any of them could win.”

In Africa - long the mark of U.S. election guidance -- one Kenyan commentator spun out satiric tweets, drawing freely from clichés that long have described troubled elections and questioning the strength of democracy in the U.S.

Kenyan cartoonist Patrick Gathara tweeted that Trump “has barricaded himself within the presidential palace vowing not to leave unless he's declared the winner,” with a mediator “currently trying to coax him out with promises of fast food.”

Together with the mockery comes dismay. Many people in Africa see the U.S. as a bellwether for democracy and, after troubled votes in Tanzania and Ivory Coast in recent days, they looked to what Washington might say.

“We are asking ourselves, how come the U.S. democratic process appearing so fragile when it's meant to be organized to us in all of those other world as a beacon of perfect democracy?” said Samir Kiango, a Tanzanian out in his country’s commercial capital Friday.

For decades, the U.S. has been an advocate for democracy abroad, using diplomatic pressure and even direct military intervention in the name of spreading the principles of a pluralistic system with a free of charge and fair vote for political leaders. These tactics have made both allies and enemies, which year’s presidential vote perhaps more than any other is testing the effectiveness of the values it promotes around the world.

And the world is paying close attention.

Few places on the planet have been on the obtaining end of U.S. election advice as photography equipment, where the U.S. has encouraged nations to have independent electoral commissions, a uniform voters’ roll and other standards aimed at ensuring an equitable vote.

“The U.S. electoral system has none of the. Not a single one,” Sithembile Mbete, a commentator and senior lecturer on political science at the University of Pretoria, said at an online event last month.

“Some African elections are actually better-run,” added Nic Cheeseman, professor and writer of a book on democracy in Africa.

Denis Kadima, executive director of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, said he sees Trump’s method of democracy as an exception, but “we should not use that as a means of allowing our very own governments to do bad things.”

In Mexico, some commentators called on the media to check out the lead of U.S. colleagues in cutting off transmissions when their own country’s president commences spreading falsehoods.

Yet there also was concern a region where many democracies remain on fragile ground -- or in the throes of outright autocratic rule -- that Trump’s behavior could set a bad precedent.

“If we resort to violence or loud demonstrations or political leaders trying to accomplish their best to skew the results before it’s finalized, which will give a different example for countries in Latin America, “ said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas, a fresh York-based organization promoting business in your community.

Still, despite all of the ruckus in the U.S., many said they view it as a blip, unlikely to damage the country’s reputation as a champion of democracy.

Kadima, in the Ivory Coast, said he sees Washington as retaining its ideals, though he admitted confusion over the persistence of the electoral university system.

“I’m not so impressed by the school system, that i don’t find terribly democratic,” he said.

His colleague, Grant Masterson, noted that the U.S. election system has “50 various ways in 50 different states,” something he said works for the American persons but “certainly not the machine that other countries are charging toward to embrace.”

What he finds “fantastic for American democracy,” however, is the ritual of the concession speech after a bitterly fought vote, signaling that it’s time to “remove your partisan hats and placed on your national hat” and move on.

“That’s really been an exceedingly good example for the rest of the world to emulate,” he said -- though he has misgivings about such a speech this time around.

As restless Americans awaited voting results from the few remaining states not yet colored red or blue, millions around the world joined them. And nonetheless it works out, many hoped that finally America’s humbled democracy comes out stronger.

Gathara, the Kenyan cartoonist and commentator, said he's optimistic there will be a more honest discussion about democracy subsequently.

“I really don’t understand how it ends,” he said of his running commentary. “We’re all trying to figure this democratic thing out.”