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The bullshitter’s already out of the barn.

January 6, 2021: first protect the assault; then–when the ballot count had been stopped by Trump’s armed and trained faketriots and with Congress assembled or not–introduce the fraudulent Electoral College ballots. The melee didn’t get that far. Neither had Donald Trump, who had been forcibly delivered back to his White Home for his own protection where he would watch a television for the outcome before telling his fighters to go home.

That was then–this is now:

This year’s return of some of these Republicans as potential electors — confirmed in recent weeks through party filings to state election officials — raises questions about what they will do if Trump loses in their states again. The GOP nominee, who is facing four felony counts related to leading conspiracies to reverse the 2020 results and disenfranchise millions of voters, has refused to commit to unconditionally accepting the results of the upcoming 2024 election while continuing to repeat the lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him. — Wang, Hansi Lo. “14 pro-Trump electors linked to efforts to reverse his 2020 loss are back for 2024.” NPR, September 12, 2024.

This, alas, is also now:

In the aftermath of the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection, threats to the election certification process have escalated, now with an increasing focus on county-level certification. Since 2020, more than 30 county officials across the country have voted to deny or delay certifying election results in violation of law, often citing false claims of voter fraud or irregularities. Among those officials are avowed 2020 election deniers, individuals who acted as fake presidential electors for Donald Trump and a criminally convicted participant in the January 6th insurrection who was later removed from office in a lawsuit led by CREW. – CREW. “Election certification under threat.” August 12, 2024.

It appears that the 2024 American election will still feature fake electors as well as uncooperative and unethical Trump loyalist Republicans–and no one will do anything about them for believing their hands tied.

Why compete to win an American election when you can leverage social loyalty into rigging and stealing one?

What Donald Trump said on July 27, 2024 before his Turning Point Action audience in relation to elections: “It’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians . . . in four years you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”

The delusional Mr. Trump has yet to give up fraudulent election denial claims for the 2020 election. Extending that tack: 239 election deniers “standing for congressional or state seats, holding Republican leadership positions, and overseeing elections on state and county election boards”.

Also ginned up: partisan election denying recruits for The Federalist whose “job” it will be to “cover” the 2024 election beneath the ironic banner of a “Georgia Election Integrity Coalition”; extra rations of delusional paranoia wrapped in false claims about Democrats cheating; and some obsessive bleating to police about the matter–of course, it’s never the narcissist’s intention but those of his perceived enemies–“Watch for the voter fraud, because we win without voter fraud,” Mr. Trump said at a meeting of the national board of the Fraternal Order of Police in Charlotte, N.C. “We win so easily.”

I appreciate sentences like, “Trump has continued to falsely claim he won the 2020 election in several states” because the oh so politely underscore the undeniable fact that Trump lies absurdly, compulsively, excessively. His baseless accusations about election fraud–not to mention his delusional repitition of a rumor about Haitians eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio–have for merit only his pointing at himself–and suggesting the Trump strategy for the 2024 American election has not changed: he’d rather steal the contest then win it, and American judiciary and politicians have been hamstrung or weak enough to just about let him do that.

Referenced or Related Online

Al Jazeera. “What to know about the election interference charges against Trump.” August 2, 2023.

Carver, Edward. “Analysis Shows Trump Loyalists Have ‘Infiltrated’ Election Boards in Key States.” Common Dreams, September 13, 2024.

Cohen, Marshall, Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Herb, Katelymn Polantz. “Exclusive: Recordings, emails show how Trump team flew fake elector ballots to DC in final push to overturn 2020 election.” CNN, December 28, 2023.

CREW. “Election certification under threat.” August 12, 2024.

Glawe, Justin. “These Swing State Election Officials Are Pro-Trump Election Deniers.” Rolling Stone, July 29, 2024.

Glawe, Justin. “Right-Wing News Site Recruits Election Deniers to Cover the 2024 Election.” Rolling Stone, September 11, 2024.

Gold, Michael, Nick Corasaniti. “Trump Urges Police Officer to Watch for Voter Fraud.” The New York Times, September 6, 2024.

Graham, David A. “The Cases Against Trump: A Guide. The Atlantic, September 13, 2024.

Hendry, Erica R. “WATCH: Trump lunged at agent who said he couldn’t go to Capitol amid Jan. 6 violence, aide says.” PBS, June 28, 2022.

Kestler-D’Amours, Jillian. “‘Simply a myth’: Trump’s false voter fraud claims set stage for turmoil — again.” Al Jazeera, September 12, 2024.

Kim, Soo Rin, Lalee Ibssa, Sarah Beth Hensley. “Fact checking Trump’s claims about ‘election integrity’.” ABC News, April 12, 2024.

Levine, Sam. “‘A different level than 2020’: Trump’s plan to steal election is taking shape.” The Guardian, August 12, 2024.

Mansfield, Erin. “Fact check: Donald Trump received dozens of hearings on his 2020 election claims.” USA Today, September 10-11, 2024.

Pilkington, Ed. “Fears mount that election deniers could disrupt vote count in US swing states.” The Guardian, September 13, 2024.

Reuters. “‘In four years, you don’t have to vote again’, Trump says.” July 27, 2024.

Sonnemaker, Tyler. “The Pentagon blocked the DC National Guard from receiving riot gear or interacting with protesters without explicit approval from Trump’s defense secretary.” Business Insider, January 8, 2021.

Wang, Hansi Lo. “14 pro-Trump electors linked to efforts to reverse his 2020 loss are back for 2024.” NPR, September 12, 2024.

Wikipedia. “The Federalist (website)”.

VandeHei, Jim and Mike Allen. “Behind the Curtain: Trump allies pre-screen loyalists for unprecedented power grab.” Axios, November 13, 2023.

Yoon, Robert. “Trump’s drumbeat of lies about the 2020 election keeps getting louder. Here are the facts.” AP, August 27, 2023.

Addendum to Reference, September 20, 2024 and Forward

Berman, Ari. “How Republicans Could Block a Democratic Victory in Georgia.” Mother Jones, September 19, 2024.

Bump, Philip. “Republicans are trying to rig 2024 the way they claim 2020 was rigged.” The Washington Post, October 7, 2024 (updated Oct. 11, 2024).

Dunlap, Stanley. “Georgia election officials warn of chaos as Trump allies push changes ahead of November.” Raw Story, September 20, 2024.

Nakamura, David. “Justice Dept. sues Virginia over program aimed at eliminating voters.” The Washington Post, October 11, 2024.

Reuters. “Campaign of Fear: The Trump world’s assault on U.S. election workers.” Compendium of assault reports related to the 2020 American Election.

Watts, Clint. “Russian election interference efforts focus on the Harris-Walz campaign.” Microsoft On The Issues, September 17, 2024.

Vazquez, Maegan. “Former Colorado official sentenced to prison in election data scheme.” The Washington Post, October 3, 2024.

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Addendum from September 23, 2024, Related and Cogent

The presidential election this year will come down to seven states — but there’s one that Donald Trump and his most committed lieutenants see as a blueprint for corrupting future local and national elections: Georgia.

The Peach State is unique — it’s the sole battleground state in which the Republican Party has total control over the levers of power: a trifecta in the state House, Senate, and governorship. Over the past four years, Trump-loving elements of the Georgia GOP have wielded that advantage in a crusade to convert discredited election-conspiracy theories into policies well ahead of Election Day 2024. It is an alarmingly anti-democratic experiment that Trumpland and much of the GOP hope to take national. — https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-georgia-laboratory-rig-2024-1235034510/.

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