Thousands and thousands of Individuals imagine that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. They assume Donald Trump received by a landslide in 2020 and misplaced solely due to widespread voter fraud. Among the individuals who maintain these views are my family members, neighbors {and professional} associates. As a result of I reject these claims, it may be tough to speak to those that settle for them.
Typically, we keep away from the subject of politics. However as a political science scholar, I count on that because the 2024 election will get nearer, conversations about 2020 will change into extra frequent, extra necessary and extra unavoidable.
So, what does somebody like me, who concludes that the final presidential election was legitimately received by Joe Biden, say to those that assume that Trump was the precise winner? Listed below are just a few of the questions I elevate in my very own conversations about 2020.
AP Picture/Jose Luis Magana
Polls and pollsters
I normally start by asking about polls. Polls and pollsters are sometimes fallacious about shut elections, and plenty of distinguished pollsters tilt towards Democrats. They predicted a Hillary Clinton victory in 2016.
However even these polls and pollsters can be unlikely to have missed a 2020 landslide for Trump – or Biden. Until, after all, as was the case, the landslide didn’t exist.
Latest political polling has been much less correct than many individuals count on. And all polls have margins of error: They supply an imperfect image of public sentiment in a carefully divided nation.
That mentioned, even polls with a large margin of error ought to have been capable of finding a Trump landslide in 2020 – however they didn’t, as a result of there wasn’t one. The final American presidential landslide, Reagan in 1984, was clearly seen in preelection polling.
If tens of millions of fraudulent votes had been solid in 2020, respected pollsters would have found a discrepancy between their information and official election outcomes. This could have been significantly true for the pollsters trusted by Republicans.
Trump himself has typically praised the Rasmussen polling group. However simply earlier than Election Day 2020, Rasmussen reported that Trump may win a slender victory within the Electoral Faculty provided that he swept all of the toss-up states – a frightening job. Rasmussen discovered no proof of a forthcoming Trump landslide and projected that Biden would get 51% of the nationwide widespread vote. That’s nearly precisely the share he acquired within the official rely.
The place is the congressional investigation of 2020 voter fraud?
The Home Republicans haven’t convened a particular committee to analyze the 2020 election. Such a committee may summon witnesses, maintain high-profile hearings and difficulty an in depth report. It may clarify to the American individuals precisely what occurred within the presidential election, how the election was stolen and who was accountable. If the proof collected justified it, they might make felony referrals to the Justice Division. The Democrats did all of these items in connection to the occasions of Jan. 6, 2021.
What could possibly be extra necessary to the American public than a full and truthful account of 2020 voter fraud? Donald Trump calls it “one of many best crimes within the historical past of our nation.” But the Republicans on Capitol Hill haven’t approved a serious public {and professional} investigation of these alleged crimes. Maybe, as former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney claims, most Republican members of Congress know that Trump’s statements about large voter fraud are false.
It might be arduous, even for Congress, to analyze one thing that didn’t occur.
When the large lie goes to court docket
Like Congress, or skilled pollsters, the judicial system has methods to reveal election fraud. Instantly after the 2020 election, the Trump marketing campaign went to court docket greater than 60 instances to problem voting procedures and outcomes.
They misplaced in all however one case.
Associated lawsuits have additionally been determined in opposition to those that claimed that the 2020 election was stolen.
As an illustration, Fox Information was sued for defamation due to broadcasts linking Dominion voting machines to allegations of a rigged 2020 election. Fox, a strong and rich company, may have taken the case to trial however didn’t. As an alternative, it paid three-quarters of a billion {dollars} to settle the case.
In one other case, Rudy Giuliani has been ordered to pay $148 million to Georgia election staff he falsely accused of misconduct. Extra civil fits are pending.
Trump’s declare of a win in 2020 – identified by its critics as “The Large Lie” – has often and repeatedly misplaced in court docket. If there have been any fact to what Trump and his supporters say in regards to the 2020 election, shouldn’t there be attorneys who current efficient proof and judges who give it credence? Thus far, there aren’t.
Democracy in America?
Onerous conversations about election integrity typically come round to a extra basic query: Will we nonetheless have democracy in America?
I believe we do. Our democracy is fragile and beneath higher stress than at any time because the Civil Battle. However it’s nonetheless a democracy. The rule of regulation could also be gradual, nevertheless it prevails. Harassed and threatened election officers do their jobs with braveness and integrity. Joe Biden, the official winner of the 2020 election, sits within the White Home.
Supporters of Donald Trump are prone to assume that the U.S. isn’t a democracy. Of their beliefs about how America works, tens of millions of unlawful votes are solid and counted frequently; information is pretend; violence is justified to halt fraudulent authorities proceedings; and it’s OK for a presidential candidate to need to be a dictator – if just for a day.
In a functioning democracy, everybody has constitutionally protected rights to carry and specific their political views. However I imagine we should always all be prepared to debate and consider the proof that helps, or fails to assist, these opinions.
There isn’t any verified proof of widespread voter fraud in 2020. You may’t discover it within the polls. You received’t get it from Congress. Claims of election wrongdoing have failed within the courts. I typically ask my associates what I’m lacking. Perhaps what’s actually lacking is a readiness for the arduous political conversations that I imagine should be had within the 2024 election season.
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