He said democracy was at stake more times than I can count

he was met with laughter, old man jokes, humiliation, claims of hyperbole and fear mongering, and takes like this from media

These are not related. He was met with that treatment after saying 1 thing (democracy is in danger) while being a pathetic choice for saving it yet continuing on anyway. The actual response to him claiming danger was “cool, whatcha gonna do about it?”

“Democracy is in danger! That’s why I, Me. We Beat Medicare, should stay in the race until the last minute!”