'A cheapskate's plot to destroy faith in democracy': Columnist explains Trump's plans
Even as Donald Trump faces trials related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the former president continues to feed his MAGA base the false claims that President Joe Biden and the Democrats coordinated fraud schemes across the country in order to win.
The Associated Press reported in August, "There is evidence that his lies are resonating: New polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 57% of Republicans believe Democrat Joe Biden was not legitimately elected as president."
In a Sunday, May 12 op-ed, MSNBC's Hayes Brown points to the fact that while Trump seeks to run a campaign rooted in those same lies — local and state GOP candidates may suffer.
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Brown writes:
Trump 'has told people in charge of the RNC [Republican National Committee] to focus on election security more than field programs, because he believes he will be able to personally motivate his voters to the polls in the fall,' The Washington Post reported Friday. The emphasis on election security is troubling on its own, given the utter lack of evidence to support Trump’s claims that voter fraud marred the 2020 election. As I’ve argued before, the problem the GOP faces when it comes to winning races isn’t 'election security,' it’s Trump himself.
He also notes that a Friday Washington Post article reports that the Trump-allied RNC — betting on "election security" to help secure a November victory — "has decided not to hire separate political, communications and research operations at the campaign and the national party."
"That sounds like a potentially prudent cost-saving measure — that also raises the question of whether down-ballot races will be a priority compared to the Trump operation," Brown adds.
The MSNBC columnist emphasizes: "It’s a genuine worry, because the RNC has traditionally concerned itself with candidates up and down state ballots across the country. So even more eyebrow-raising is the decision to scrap the committee’s earlier plan to ramp up nationwide for the general election."
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Brown suggests that while Trump is "begging big-spending billionaires to fill the quickly draining coffers," and assuring MAGA fans that he's bound to win in the absence of voter fraud, the former president "is siphoning off money that should be spent on GOP election efforts to pay his legal fees so he can keep from having to shell out that money himself."
"What we’re seeing play out is a cheapskate’s plot to destroy faith in democracy for no better reason than to save a few bucks (although, in fairness, it’s not just a few)," Brown adds.
He emphasizes:
Call it the Trump Theory of Electoral Savings. Trump supporters recently told NBC News 'they weren’t prepared to accept a Biden victory as legitimate, potentially setting up another presidential election — and potentially a volatile aftermath — in which a large part of the public refuses to believe the results.' It’s a particularly dangerous situation for the country when you consider that Trump is setting up expectations for success while at the same time refusing to devote resources to Republicans winning.
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Brown's full op-ed is available here.