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The president of the United States claims he lost only to electoral fraud. Major Republicans are giving him cover – and now the Attorney General steps in.
Protecting a Close Confidant: William Barr (r.) Campaigns for President Donald Trump in alleged election fraud.
Photo: Evan Vucci (AP / Keystone / September 23, 2020)
Donald Trump has lost, but he has no hint of admitting defeat – not yet. Instead, the president continues to argue that he was the victim of systematic election fraud by the Democrats. Trump has provided no proof of this and no more than the usual flaws have emerged in any election.
Even so, Trump has convinced many Republicans to spread his allegations, or at least make them sound plausible. And Justice Secretary Bill Barr, one of Trump’s closest allies in the government, is now involved in the matter. (Read about this: Republicans are still loyal to Trump).
Barr has given his subordinate federal government lawyers permission to investigate “substantive allegations” of wrongdoing before final election results are available from member states. The move is unusual because it is the state’s responsibility to conduct the elections, and a Justice Department policy prohibits investigating election fraud before official results are known. In a circular on Monday, Barr ruled that investigations were allowed if there were “clear and seemingly credible allegations” that could influence the outcome of an election in a state.
Several cases already filed
Barr’s speech sparked criticism in Washington. The head of the Justice Department responsible for election fraud has resigned in protest. Other pundits accused Barr of “scary tactics,” which simply promoted Trump’s goal of destroying confidence in the election. Barr’s critics have long seen him as a Trump agent. However, some passages in the minister’s circular can also be read as an attempt to dismiss Trump’s allegations. “Flimsy, speculative, absurd or unlikely allegations should not be the basis of federal investigations,” Barr writes.
Similarly, one can describe what Trump’s lawyers and Republican circles have presented so far in different states. According to experts, including politically conservative ones, so far no case has come to a court that has the potential to change the outcome of the election. Several causes have already been filed. Even those in charge of the electoral authorities, which are run by the Republicans, have not found any major irregularities anywhere.
The recount, which could come due to tight margins in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin, is unlikely to affect the election as well, electoral law expert Rick Hasen said in the web magazine Slate. According to one study, an average of around 280 grades shifts in one direction or another when counting. Trump’s Biden deficit is 11,500 votes in the narrowest state of Georgia. But to become president, after all, the outcome would have to rotate in several states.
According to US media reports, even close associates of Trump do not believe the president can avert his defeat in this way. In Washington, some suspect that Trump is pursuing not a legal strategy with fraud speeches at all, but a public relations campaign: he does not want to walk away as a loser, but as someone who has been conned by an election victory – even to benefit from a possible next presidential offer 2024, which Trump seems to be already thinking about.
Are Republicans Afraid of Trump’s Influence?
Even so, many prominent Republicans continue to support the president, oxygenating his claims and failing to recognize Joe Biden’s election victory. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, said on Monday that Trump had “one hundred percent of the right” to challenge the elections in court. He could not be expected to accept the outcome “happily and immediately” after the Democrats never accepted Trump’s election. This was a turning point in history as Hillary Clinton admitted her defeat four years ago and congratulated Trump on his victory the day after the election.
Other Republicans are ringing more and more shrill. “We Republicans win the election because of our ideas and we lose because the Democrats cheat,” Senator Lindsey Graham said in an interview with Fox News.
No deviation from accusations of fraud, on the contrary. Are Republicans afraid of the influence Trump is likely to have on the party even after he leaves the White House? Does he want to keep the mood of his base, which will be voted again in the decisive by-election for the Senate in Georgia?
It seems certain that the behavior of Trump and the Republicans is already having consequences. According to a survey by the Morning Consult institute, confidence in the electoral system among Republican supporters has already collapsed. Just two weeks ago, nearly 70 percent said they had faith in the election. Today it is only a third.
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