Here we go again
Back in 2017, Trump launched an investigation into the 2016 election, to support the claim that it was “rigged.” Back then Trump claimed that Hillary Clinton lost the election by millions of popular votes, when in fact she won by nearly 3 million popular votes, only to lose the election in the Electoral College.
That became the Durham investigation, which yielded absolutely nothing after nearly four years of shuffling papers and intimidating witnesses. Trump claimed it proved he was right, which it emphatically did not.
So now Trump has called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election, won by President Joe Biden. Trump has endlessly repeated his baseless conspiracy theory that he, and not Biden, actually won that election.
The problem, of course, is that the lunatic cultists in his MAGA base believe him. Moreover, Republicans are willing to parrot his claim, even the ones who know it’s a lie. Some refuse to state categorically the lie, which amounts to the same thing.
Here, in full, is what Trump posted on “Truth” Social: “Zero Border crossings for the month for TRUMP, verses[sic] 60,000 for Sleepy, Crooked Joe Biden, a man who lost the 2020 Presidential Election by a “LANDSLIDE!” Biden was grossly incompetent, and the 2020 election was a total FRAUD! The evidence is MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING. A Special Prosecutor must be appointed. This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin! What this Crooked man, and his CORRUPT CRONIES, have done to our Country in 4 years, is grossly indescribable! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
I don’t know what, if anything, will come of these manic ravings. But the dark side is Trump and his Republican gang of thugs could use this “investigation” as a pretext to rig future elections by instituting draconian measures to further suppress election rights in blue states and in major cities where Democrats traditionally win.
If you think Democrats are immune to such beliefs, think again. For example, many Democrats believe that the July 13th assassination attempt on Trump was staged by Trump himself. While I have no trouble believing that Trump and his goons are capable of such an evil undertaking, which resulted in the death of an innocent bystander, there isn’t a shred of evidence to support it.
The conspiracy theory mentality has so thoroughly infiltrated the American psyche as to make such bullshit seem plausible to many. Critical thinking too often takes a backseat to a willingness to believe any crackpot idea that supports what some want to be true.
So Trump could leverage the popular embrace of conspiracy thinking to support his preposterous Big Lie that he won the 2020 election and appoint a special prosecutor. (What has become of Aileen Cannon’s ruling that special prosecutors are unconstitutional?) Or he could get distracted by some other shiny object and forget to pursue it, as he did with his ridiculous plan to resurrect Alcatraz as a federal prison. I sincerely hope it’s the latter. We shall see.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.