Even in Trump-loving Missouri, Republicans are hiding from tomorrow’s ‘Big Lie’ rally

One of the nation’s wildest purveyors of Donald Trump’s Big Lie is coming to Missouri for a rally Thursday, but it appears the event is radioactive even in a state the former guy carried by more than 15 points in 2020.

The rally and a dinner tonight will be “featuring Douglas Frank, a high school math teacher who has become a prominent figure among supporters of former President Donald Trump in repeating baseless claims of election fraud,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported today.

The newspaper also reported that top Missouri Republicans “will be a no-show” at the rally.

“Aides to Gov. Mike Parson, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick all said they would not be at the rally."

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As reported at Raw Story earlier this week, “Frank’s claims of a secret algorithm, along with other myths seeking to undermine President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, have been widely discredited. But that hasn’t stopped many adherents of the lie from latching on to his work.

“Nor has it stopped Frank from gaining an audience with GOP elected officials from around the country.

“That includes Ashcroft, who has consistently said he does not believe voter fraud impacted the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

The Washington Post reported that Frank claims he “negotiated a deal” in which Ashcroft “agreed to take up the cause if we brought him 100 phantom voters.”

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JoDonn Cherry, Ashcroft’s spokesman, said in an email to The Independent that he is “not aware of any ‘negotiated deal’ between the secretary and Douglas Frank and there is nothing on his calendar indicating a meeting between the two in the upcoming days.”

The Post-Dispatch reporter that Frank was invited to Jefferson City -- the state capitol -- by Rep. Ann Kelley, R-Lamar.

Kelley has been active among those who continue to believe Trump won. In August, she attended a conference in South Dakota hosted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump supporter who also has repeated false claims that voting machines were hacked to flip votes for Trump to President Joe Biden in 2020.

Kelley earlier said she had 175 RSVPs for the dinner but was not sure how many people would attend Thursday’s rally in the Capitol rotunda.