@Turgon
In the light of what happened in the last 24-hour since I wrote that, it is even more obvious that acceptance and resignation would have been Trump's best option. His options have narrowed drastically since.
24-hour ago -- With an acceptance+apology+resignation, even in the 12th hour, he could have a legacy, and a life.
He could have challenged, disputed, fought after that all he wanted as an ex-president, any time. He could have had a platform, build his own movement, party, anything and anybody from his family could have run for president in the future. It was all about survival. It was written that he had good instincts. I think he lost that too, not only reason...
vs.
Now -- He is already ostracized, has no allies whatsoever except for some rebel commentators who make a living from click baits, he will be impeached next week and lose any immunity and right to run for office ever, his campaign/finances and life will be scrutinized like never before, and probably will end up in prison for whatever reason. The families of those killed in riots will never get closure, he could at least have had a word for them... His own family will suffer for at least 10 years or until after his death when some rehabilitation will happen. On top of that all, the future is bleak for any political popular-platform, the freedom of expression will be severely restrained, and the Republican party is in shambles. Everyone who ever touched or appeared, supported Trump will be pointed fingers at and stigmatized. This is the purge brought to you by DJT fallout. "With great power comes great responsibility", yeah those are not just words.
After the recounts/challenges/appeals rejection, etc - it was clear that the election results could not be overturned, and there was no legal constitutional path. Was the election stolen? You've been cheated. Swallow it. You didn't think it through. You lost. Accept defeat, regroup and come back stronger with a vengeance. Calculate your moves, have a strategy, but stop p*ssing against the wind thinking that some miracle will happen. Using crowds for political pressure is a no-no and so third-world-country. Again, there was no constitutional path for election results overturn. It's called playing by the rules. You can take shortcuts to achieve results, but those are the results that are counted and there are rules.
Even if there was no violence this week, bringing crowds of supporters to DC was still an affront to democracy and perceived as an intimidation. With violence on top of that and the storming of Congress, and human lives lost, God help us... It's not only the knee-jerk reaction we see right now, but I am afraid this will have even longer-time reaching implications and although I am confident that in the new decade and era to come we'll be more tolerant and less inclined to stigmatize, judge and antagonize and prone to acceptance of any foe's action - it takes and is needed a change of consciousness and heart from him too to be rehabilitated, just thinking in terms of black and white doesn't cut it anymore...