It is a case of being hoisted by his own petard.
President Trump has convinced his own supporters of the false conspiracy theory that mail-in ballots are subject to rampant fraud — so much so that Republicans are, evidently, refusing to vote by mail.
The Post’s Amy Gardner and Josh Dawsey report that Democratic voters have embraced mail ballots in far greater numbers than Republicans in primaries this year — alarming Republican strategists who say it could undercut their candidates, including Trump, particularly in states such as Florida and Arizona. In Michigan, Trump supporters actually burned absentee-ballot applications.
This is but one sign of the descent into madness that Trump has caused. Conspiracy theories, long a staple of the president’s, are spreading faster than covid-19 among his supporters, inducing mass delusion. In the most ominous manifestation, he has convinced his supporters that fears of the virus are overblown (a Democratic “hoax”), that mask-wearing is effete political correctness and that the pandemic’s spread merely proves that “our TESTING is much bigger and better.”
Now the pandemic is growing unchecked in Trump-backing states, and hospitals are running out of rooms. Tulsa, where Trump insisted on having an indoor rally, has seen a dramatic surge in cases “more than likely” spurred by the rally and protests, the local health department said.
Everywhere, it seems, reality is colliding with Trump’s fantasies.
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In this opera… the question is, is this the end of the whole shebang, or just the end of Act I? If the latter, then Act II will be a blockbuster, ending with the theater going up in flames.