This is the meta lie, the effortlessly implied falsehood of two choices (when no individual needs to belong to either party, and we could have ranked choice or another voting system to support a less fearful voting experience for independent and 3rd party candidates). While both parties are ineffective, only one is actively dangerous, only one intends to subvert the will of the other, to take away rights already available by force (if needed). This is what neither the Democratic Party, nor the news media effectively communicated. Perhaps because they have no obvious incentive to do so, except for second order effects of an outcome they won't permit themselves to imagine. They believe in the system like god made their money.