Polarized Perceptions of Election Legitimacy Increase with Outcome Certainty and Polarized Media

Over two weeks surrounding the 2020 U.S. Election, we examined how polarized perceptions of vote legitimacy corresponded with: 1) Election outcome; 2) Polarized media engagement. We found that Democrats increased, while Republicans decreased, in perceived vote legitimacy over time, and that perceived legitimacy was negatively predicted by Fox News engagement.