During the presidential debates, moderator Chris Wallace asked candidate Donald Trump a pointed question: Win or lose, will you accept the results of the November election? Trump’s answer: “I’ll keep you in suspense,” later adding he would accept them “if I win.” Naturally, Democrats instantly went ape. “Horrifying,” said Hillary Clinton (who was not asked the same question). “He’s talking down our democracy, and I, for one, am appalled.”

Not that appalled, as things turned out.

In the wake of their shocking loss, Democrats and their fellow travelers in the media have mounted a frantic, and increasingly deracinated, campaign to deny Trump the fruits of his victory in the Electoral College and thus overturn the election by any means necessary, fair or foul.

The recounts failed, so now it’s on to the Russians. Unsourced speculation from “sources” inside the CIA says Russian agents hacked John Podesta’s emails from the Democratic National Committee, according to “bombshell” reports in the Washington Post and New York Times.

Except that was the same “bombshell” that Jeh Johnson, the secretary of homeland security, and James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said on the record in October. The same “bombshell” that had Joe Biden acting like John Wayne, saying the US was going to retaliate. “We’re sending a message. We have the capacity to do it. And the message — he’ll know it,” Biden said about Vladimir Putin on “Meet the Press.”

No proof was offered then, or now, that Russia was involved. But it’s not as though voters weren’t aware of the speculation before the election, as some Democrats and columnists claim.

So what’s changed? Now Democrats and their media allies are in panic mode, looking for something, anything, to try to change the results. Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid even said in an interview with the Huffington Post that Trump was in cahoots with the Russians. His proof? He doesn’t have any; just like when he lied about Mitt Romney paying no taxes. He says he’s not sorry for that; after all, he got what he wanted — Mitt lost.

The Times and Washington Post started the “conversation,” Democrat leaders amplify it, and suddenly it’s all cable news is talking about.

It gets richer. A supposedly “bipartisan” letter from various electors asking for a “security briefing” before the vote on Dec. 19 includes a grand total of one Republican, publicity-seeking elector; the rest are all Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi’s daughter. But now left-leaning websites can talk about faithless electors and other long-shot hopes.

Remember, the DNC emails, released by WikiLeaks, were mostly a disappointment to those who expected the deep, dark secrets of the Clintons. It wasn’t Hillary who came out looking bad, it was the media — people like Politico’s Glenn Thrush, who just got hired by the Times, ­emailing large portions of an article he was working on to party officials for review. Or Donna Brazile, the CNN commentator who leaked debate questions. Could it be the media is a little embarrassed about the hacks exposing the hacks they are?

More likely, it’s another case of the mainstream media being furious that the rest of the country can think for themselves. They’re just going to keep repeating themselves until everyone finally comes around to their side.

It won’t work, of course. Trump will be duly elected in a week and will take the oath of office on Jan. 20, as scheduled. But it’s all part of a coordinated Democratic (and NeverTrump) attack on the president-elect and the first salvo in what promises to be four years of dogged resistance to the legitimate outcome of a national election.

Instead of blaming the Russians, Democrats need to ask themselves the question they always pose about America: Why do they hate us? The answer, should a mirror be handy, is staring them in the face.

Michael Walsh is an author, screenwriter and contributing editor at PJ Media. His most recent book is “The Devil’s Pleasure Palace.”