No one really expected that Donald Trump To accept the option.
After all, he told the world he wouldn’t. “Democrats are trying to hold this election because that’s the only way they’re going to win.” He said Back on 13 September. “If I win, I will fully accept the results of this great and historic presidential election.” He said In 2016
But even after he won in 2016, he continued to lie about voter fraud, lying in the meantime. 3 and 5 lakh people voted illegally. That too False He claimed that he only lost the state of New Hampshire because people were smuggled out of the state. He formed a panel to look into such issues, which included some of the country’s leading celebrities Voter fraud. Conflict-ridden commissions, Dissolve Without proof of anything
Now, after losing the 2020 election to Joey Biden, the president is turning to voter fraud to make up for his loss. With complex evidence, his campaign has filed unfounded lawsuits across the country. These efforts are unlikely to change the outcome of the election. “What’s the point of making fun of him for so long?” No one seriously thinks the results will change, “said a senior Republican official. Told the Washington Post.
But Trump’s claims and lawsuits are not going to change the overall voter turnout and have never really happened. Demonstrating voter fraud claims, Republican Biden is laying the groundwork for questioning the legitimacy of the presidency and any election in which an opposition candidate loses. They are only doubting the 2020 election, but is the US voting system – the foundation of American democracy – right?
In addition to this election, these attempts to cast doubt on the outcome of the election will justify a long-standing Republican effort to force different sections of the electorate to vote. In a democracy where the power to govern is rooted in the consent of the governing body, it is deeply dangerous.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested this week that Democrats should not give speeches on the need to recognize Republicans because Democrats have challenged the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency since 2016. But on the morning after the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton Assume the raceHe conceded defeat and said he hoped Trump would be a successful president.
“Part of democracy is accepting the legitimacy of elections. We know this because we invest heavily in discounted speech. It’s not that the concessions have any legal effect, it’s because they signal a peaceful transfer of power, “said Frenita Tolson, a law professor at the University of Southern California. “It signals to the rest of the world that you can lose an election here and no one loses their head.”
“Seventy million people voted for him. He is telling 70 million people that he was betrayed outside the presidency. It may be a threat to democracy, but it cannot help. ”
There is already some evidence that Trump’s efforts are working. Although 80% of Americans believe Biden won the election About six in 10 According to a Reuters / Ipsos poll, Republicans agree. Even 70% of Republicans Said in a survey This week, he did not believe the election was “free and fair”, as 35% of people said before the election.
On Saturday, even after every major media outlet called for Biden’s election, Trump supporters said they did not know if they could trust the results, even from Fox News, a network frequently approached the president. And criticized for spreading his misleading messages.
“I have confidence in our territory. But when I heard what was happening in Detroit, and the big cities – I heard they were burning belts too. I don’t know if that’s true, “said Eva Nimela, who traveled to the state capital, Michigan, to attend several anti-theft rallies by Trump supporters across the country. (No belts burned in Detroit.)
Outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where staff were still counting votes in Philadelphia, a man who would only give his first name, John, said he was confident Trump had won the election. “I don’t murmur about what the press says,” he said. “Trump’s president. No doubt ”
The remarks echoed Trump, who falsely claimed to have won the election, and Republicans such as Mike Pompeo, who spoke there. Will be A “smooth transition to Trump’s second administration”.
The strategy the Republicans are deploying is not only to erode confidence in the election, but also to make it harder to vote in the years to come.
The strategy is nothing new. For years, Republican activists have used misleading information to allay fears of illegal voting, although there is plenty of evidence that voter fraud is not a widespread problem. Republicans later used measures to justify measures that make voting difficult, such as proof of voter ID and citizenship laws. Part of that strategy is to loudly announce lawsuits alleging hateful activities, catching headlines, just seeing claims break in court.
Chirag Bains, director of legal strategies at the civil rights think tank, Demos, said Trump’s defeat was an opportunity for the Republican Party to distance itself from fraudulent claims. He expressed doubts about what would happen and called on the progressives to take steps to curb the vote.
“I don’t think it will go away if it is honest. Claims of dishonest fraud continue because some people benefit from them, ”he said. “Right wing echoing chamber, they want us to talk about voter fraud, they want us to talk about it, although it’s rare … it will continue because it is a powerful tool for these vote-suppressing measures.” That’s fine. “
That’s what the Trump campaign is doing now, provoking fraud. She is making allegations that are not supported by the evidence filed in court. But judges across the country have no problem Immediate dismissal of cases so far.
But even once the Trump campaign is over, questions about the integrity of the US election will linger.
Due to victory or defeat, the character of the American election, which has long been messy and dirty, is accepting the results. It is a belief that people have spoken and chosen the direction in which they want to go. It becomes very difficult to govern if the voters believe that the President was not elected fairly, then he is the basis to oppose everything.
In a year that saw record turnout and many states expanding early voting and postal voting, these questions will justify the justice of the Republicans to return their expansion. It is an approach aimed at protecting the powers that be.
And capturing Trump’s loyal supporters who believe that Trump is spreading lies about the electoral system is an important part of that unilateral effort to maintain that power.
“We need his voters,” said John Thunn, a top Republican in the UN Senate. Said this week, Stating the importance of Trump for the Georgia Senate election in January. “And he has a strong following there.”
Lois Beckett contributed to the reporting
