Donald Trump was right for once
Well, I finally have to admit it. Donald Trump was right. There really is rampant fraud in the 2020 election. Forget about the fact that this time a candidate won in the Electoral College by 74 votes. Forget about the fact that this time the same candidate who won the Electoral College vote also won the popular vote by 7 million.
Despite all that, numerous Republicans still insist that the winning candidate actually lost, with absolutely not one shred of evidence to back them up. The Supreme Court refused to even consider their complaint and some 60 court cases emphatically ruled against them, yet still they persist in the narrative that Joe Biden mysteriously stole the election. So yes, I think we finally have to call it what it is. Fraud.
As a direct result of this monstrous fraud, millions of Americans have been needlessly and cynically whipped into a frenzy. A protest movement, “Stop the Steal” has swept the land, and much of it is turning ugly. Don’t be surprised if many Americans die from the violent mobs inspired by Fox News and prominent Republicans promoting this garbage.
Once again the rotting corpse of the Hunter Biden “scandal” has been dug up and re-outfitted in a new suit. It is yet another example of bad loser Republicans fraudulently promoting the false narrative of “rampant corruption” in the incoming administration.
Is this going to be the new go-to strategy for Republicans every time they lose, promulgating conspiracy theories of cheating and lying about corruption because they don’t like the results? Very possibly. Why not, Republicans now label as fake news any news that comes from any source that’s remotely critical of Donald Trump. So the idea that any election they don’t win is also fake news is a short step to make.
As long as I’m in the neighborhood, I’ll surprise you again and tell you who else was also right besides Donald Trump: Lindsey Graham. On May 3, 2016, Senator Graham said, “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed — and we will deserve it.” Well, Lindsey, you nominated him, you were destroyed and yes, you deserved it.
This evil rubbish is promoted week after week by Republicans trying to subvert the democratic process by interfering in America’s duly constituted elections. Meanwhile real outrages are happening. In the last week alone, as I write this, a staggering 18,000 Americans have lost their lives due to coronavirus — as a direct result of the catastrophic indifference Donald Trump and the Republicans have displayed toward this devastating pandemic.
As I write this there are only 32 more days until Joe Biden is inaugurated President of the United States. We are seeing firsthand how truly ugly the death throes of the Republican Party can be. Let’s hope Lindsey Graham was right, that Republicans have been destroyed. They are leaving absolutely no doubt that they do indeed deserve it. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.