Well let's be clear who you're talking about when you say "The Democrats" in the above. Are you talking about the DNC? Hillary herself? Or just people that vote Democrat? Or people in the media that choose to report things in... how should I say it... a "Democrat-slanted manner?"
Because I know quite a few people that voted for Hillary, and who didn't understand exactly what was done with respect to Russian influence, and who most assuredly stated outright that Trump and the RNC and the Russians rigged the election. And there were also, most certainly, some... "Democrat-slanted media members"... who reported it that way as well.
They might have meant something else, but that's not what they said-- they said it was rigged, and further they were certain that there was conclusive proof that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.
I'm not disagreeing with the spirit of what you're saying, but since I agree with you that words mean something, I think it's important to be clear about who and what we're talking about.
Listen, there are dumb people everywhere. People who don't understand what's going on, on a good day, being asked to understand complicated things like what Russia was actually doing in 2016.
And sometimes what people say isn't what other people hear, which is why I'm so adamant about words meaning things.
I don't recall anyone in the Democrat "establishment" claiming the election was rigged.
By which I mean Hillary, higher-ups in the DNC, prominent Democrat House or Senate members, etc. I also don't recall anyone in the mainstream media using the term "rigged".
I believe I heard the term "interference" out of a large number of them... Which itself can be a much more charged word than influence. Interference comes with it the connotation that something is being done wrongly, or crossing a boundary.
That said, we know our own government "influences" foreign elections and events. I'm sure the locals there call it interference. Just as we call what Russia did interference, and I'm sure they call it influence.
I don't doubt that you know Democrats who used the term "rigged". Just as the forum at the bottom of this site is replete with a bunch of people who will parrot every one of the far-fetched and most deranged conspiracy theories of the right.
If we sat there and said that "X doesn't say Y", and looked at the dumbest and most easily-led subset of "X", you'll find someone who says "Y". So I am naturally referring to the ones with power, influence, position, etc at or near the top. They weren't saying "rigged".