I’m sure everyone has heard and/or read that Trump is now encouraging GOP voters to NOT vote until the ‘fraud’ that he claims occurred in the 2020 elections is ‘solved’
A few questions come to mind:
Who was the intended audience of that statement? Was this just some crazy random thing Cheetoh ranted about without thought, or was it intended as a thinly veiled threat to all sitting GOP legislators (either you find a way to reinstate me or I’ll take you all down)?
If even only a couple percent of GOP voters heeded this call, it would prove disastrous the to party. Part of me would like to rejoice, but boycotting elections is something usually associated with third world countries and is not the sign of a healthy democracy. Longer term, I can’t see this as anything good for the country.
January 6th was a stepping stone towards something bigger. Many Trumpers think we’re heading for another civil war. Taking part in what they see as a fraudulent electoral process is irrelevant when they already think they’re going to need to take up arms against their fellow citizens in order to “take their country back.”
Trump is just adding fuel to this sentiment, but he didn’t create it.
Its code for don’t vote, attack. He is laying the groundwork of claiming that voting doesn’t matter since it is corrupted by the Dems and biased against his agenda. So over throw the government instead.
Odds are, this is will be the case. But really it all depends on whether he continues to repeat this call and how often. My hope is that it’s just a standard one-off crazy comment and quickly forgotten.
steronz is also correct that Trump is only tapping into something extremely dark that existed before he came along.
For years people have been asking “What could persuade Trump’s supporters to finally ditch him?” Based off backlash I’m seeing to his comment on Reddit, this may be finally it.
Who’s backlashing? Real MAGA’s, or more standard-issue Republican’s (you know Mitch is livid)? Because in close elections (see Georgia) if he just keeps 1 or 2 percent of his folks home it can swing things.
Trump finally says something with which I agree. The Republican party is the party of evil and they need to be expunged. Hopefully, they lose so badly that the Democrats take over almost everywhere. Then the Democrats can split into two parties that would represent a normal political spectrum.
I’ve seen speculation that this is a mangled version of something he heard from a legitimate back-room GOP strategist. If they can get a meaningful fraction of the base voters to stay home, without calling significant attention to the effort, they can argue that the resulting discrepancy between “normal” turnout levels and the current vote is evidence of Dem shenanigans, thereby supporting further “reform” and audits and other obstructions. But that’s too complex and subtle for him, so it comes out as a tantrum.
I think that’s unlikely, it’s far more probable it’s just him being foolish and personal and petty, but it’s also not an impossible hypothesis.
The crazy stupid thing is, our electoral system is legally rigged in favor of Republicans, from local gerrymandering, restrictions and polling place distribution all the way up to the electoral college. About the only way they can lose is if their voters stay home.
Maybe we can get Michael Bloomberg to finance a nationwide billboard campaign with Trump’s picture and the caption “Don’t Vote!”. Get enough people to sit out the election in a few key areas could be effective.
Trump’s statement is squarely aimed at Republican officeholders who are daring to back off, even slightly, from Trump’s contention that the 2020 election was stolen and are declining to go along with further Arizona-style “audits”. It’s a shot across the bow to them that he can make or break their next campaign, and that he expects nothing less than full-throated support of his crusade.
If they get on board, he’ll have more than enough time and reason to reverse himself.
Trump is just lashing out – even his strongest supporters know it. But each time he does this he’s making it just a little easier for someone like Ron Desantis to take him on.
which subforum on Reddit is this? It sounds interesting.
On reddit, I’ve only seen Trump lovers and haters…I’ve almost never seen a Trump supporter backstep and turn against him.
I wouldn’t say there’s “deep strategy” in his comments, but Trump does have a feral understanding that plenty of Republican officeholders want to put him in the rear view mirror (either because they can’t stand him or they want to commandeer his movement). This is him jerking the chain to remind them that he can and will crash the entire party if they try to cut him out.
