In years to come, history teachers will have to deal with what to tell future generations about two-term President Donald Trump and his preoccupation with re-litigating his 2020 election defeat.
Speaking from the East Room of the White House in July, the president once again falsely insisted he had won the 2020 election. He alleged the win was stolen from him, using a lot of disturbing words: “fraud,” “ripped and stolen,” “conspiracy” and “manipulation.” He sought to leave a message, assuring us that he was not and never has been a loser. More worrisome than that; he hinted that should his party lose in the November midterm elections, it will not be an honest outcome.
In the 18 months since the beginning of his second term, Trump has appointed election deniers to key positions in government. He has seized voting records to prove his conspiracy theories and purged officials who investigated efforts to overturn his election defeat six years ago.
In his TV address, Trump used selectively declassified documents to make sensational claims about vulnerabilities in the system. He cited new evidence that there were attempts by China to gain access to election information, but he was unable to show proof that the election was illegitimate.
Republican Trevor Potter, former chair of the Federal Election Commission, charged that Trump is fixated on his claim that he didn’t lose. Potter said, “It feels like Captain Ahab in pursuit of Moby Dick.”
It doesn’t take a professional to explain that Trump is consumed with his bogus claim that he didn’t lose in 2020. In fact, he is unable to admit losing anything. His obsession with election denial is not only deeply embedded in his psyche but is now enshrined in his administration. It has become an article of faith. The absurdity of the need to become an election denier was on full display in front of the Senate during confirmation hearings for Jay Clayton to become director of national intelligence.
When Sen. Jon Ossoff attempted to pin Clayton down on the 2020 election, asking who won the contest, Clayton refused to answer, only replying that Joe Biden had been “certified president.” Left unanswered was Ossoff’s subsequent query: “Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer, to have to indulge the president’s delusions?”
It’s true there are some in the GOP party who quietly wish Trump would move on at a time when the citizenry is more focused on concerns over rising prices and the ongoing war with Iran. But Trump’s 2020 fixation has only grown. It’s as if his entire administration has become delusional.
Expanding on Trump’s July speech, Markwayne Mullin, secretary of the Department of National Security, made the bogus claim that 250,000 non-U.S. citizens are on voter rolls in just four states: California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Department of Justice previously had sued those states and a dozen others to turn over versions of their voter rolls that include social security numbers and drivers’ license numbers. If election officials don’t comply, Mullin threatened possible prison time.
The dangers involved in an administration laser-focused on Trump’s election obsession are real and concerning. There’s reason to ask: Why? Why six years after Trump’s loss to Joe Biden?
Some authorities see the reason essentially as Trump’s need for personal vindication, that his lies about 2020 being stolen continue to motivate him and are what keeps him up at night.
But there is another answer to the “why” question, one that is deeply concerning. With the November midterm elections likely to draw a large turnout, Trump used his July 16 speech to push hard for passage of his SAVE America Act. Among other features, the Trump-endorsed bill would require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote and a ban on most voting by mail. The Act also blocks transgender athletes from women’s sports and restricts gender-affirming care.
The U.S. House has already approved the SAVE America Act. Not so the Senate. In order for the Senate to approve such a bill, it would undoubtedly require changing Senate rules that ban a filibuster. That change is something Majority Leader John Thune has been loath to do.
Without a Senate vote approving the SAVE Act, there looms the possibility that, during November elections, Democrats will take over the House and maybe even the Senate. If that were to occur, the majority would be able to impeach the president.
The threat of impeachment is very real to President Trump. This has many worried that, if the November elections aren’t going his way, Trump will somehow take steps to interfere or to deny the outcomes. It’s worth remembering that he regretted not sending the National Guard to seize voting machines in 2020.
This indeed is a time when there is much at stake. To hark back to the much-quoted Ben Franklin query, one is tempted to ask: A republic or a monarchy?
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