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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — May 24, 2022

By May 24, 2022No Comments

Driving the Day: 

What To Watch For Today  

Election deniers and those who would overturn the next election are on the ballot in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota, and Texas today. 

Must Read Stories

Election Deniers Are On The Ballot To Control The 2024 Election 

  • CNN (Analysis): Election Deniers Want To Control The 2024 Election. And They’re Getting Closer: Proponents of Donald Trump’s discredited lie about rampant fraud in 2020 are running for positions of authority over election administration in virtually every state expected to decide the 2024 presidential race, an explosive trend dramatically underscored by Tuesday’s bitterly contested Georgia Republican primary. In Georgia, Trump may achieve, at best, only mixed success Tuesday with the slate of election-denier candidates he has endorsed in primaries against Republicans, led by Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who certified President Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 win in the state. But even losses for some of Trump’s candidates in Georgia — and that seems much more likely in the governor than secretary of state race — wouldn’t reverse the larger trend: Republicans across the country are steadily nominating candidates echoing Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020 election in contests for governor, attorney general and secretary of state.

Attacks On GOP Over Democracy Should Focus On Threats To Future Elections 

  • Washington Post (Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman): Are Democratic Attacks On The GOP Over Democracy Missing Their Mark? Talk about the “big lie” sounds backward looking, smacking of an effort to relitigate a past outcome. By contrast, highlighting the specific ways Republicans are gearing up to steal the next election might sound more relevant. “We cannot be quiet in the face of Republicans saying they’re going to change rules in a way that will sabotage future elections,” Binder told us. “Do it in a way that looks forward.” In truth, the backward-looking and forward-looking arguments are two sides of the same coin: When a GOP candidate announces his conviction that Trump won in 2020, that’s strong evidence that they will try to steal the 2024 election for him (or another GOP loser). But it can be hard to prove this, because the rhetoric of even the most deranged election saboteurs is clothed in high-minded claims about “transparency” and “integrity.” Nevertheless, if voters are more interested in the future than the past, then they are focusing in the right direction. Many Trump loyalists seeking positions of control over election positions — especially governor and secretary of state — accept the presumption that only Republican victories are legitimate, and if voters decide to elect Democrats then they must simply be overruled. Which is something all voters should be worried about. And if they aren’t, Democrats have a duty to make sure they understand the true stakes we face. In future elections.

Trump’s Talk Of A Civil War Is A Growing Belief On The Far Right 

  • Vice: Trump’s ‘Civil War’ Rhetoric Is a Growing Belief on Far Right: It was only two words, but it says a lot about the mindset of former President Donald Trump and some of his most hardcore supporters. Trump reposted a message stating “civil war” on his Truth Social app over the weekend, seemingly suggesting that the U.S. is on the brink of civil war. This kind of rhetoric isn’t new on the far right, but the fact that Trump himself is elevating these messages is alarming, as convincing your side that you’re already in a civil war is a good way to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dire, existential rhetoric has repeatedly inspired actual violence in the U.S. The recent murder of 10 people in Buffalo by a shooter convinced by the “great replacement” theory is just the latest violent tragedy inspired by extreme philosophy. Those who are convinced they’re already at war may be more likely to start shooting. Right-wing discussion of a coming “civil war” has been building for years. And the types of people warning of it have grown increasingly powerful. 

In The States 

Massachusetts GOP Veers To The Far Right, Endorses Election Denier For Governor 

  • Boston Globe: At Convention, Mass. Republicans Endorse Trump-Backed Candidate For Governor, Vow To Overtake ‘Evil’ Democrats: Republican activists Saturday overwhelmingly endorsed a Donald Trump-backed conservative for governor at the Massachusetts GOP convention, where speakers leaned heavily into national themes and culture war debates, railing against abortion, characterizing Democrats as “evil,” and issuing vague yet vulgar warnings about the state of education. Geoff Diehl, a former Whitman state lawmaker who’s trumpeted Trump’s false claims the 2020 election was rigged, received 71 percent of the 1,194 votes cast by party delegates, winning the party’s backing for governor. Diehl, also a former US Senate candidate, far outpaced Chris Doughty, a Wrentham business owner running for office for the first time, who cleared the 15 percent threshold of delegate support needed to appear on the Sept. 6 ballot.

What Experts Are Saying

Norm Eisen, Brookings Senior Fellow: “[T]he January six committee must tell that story before the insurrection, the day of the insurrection, and the continuation of the insurrection driven by Trump’s big lie, his what a federal judge has now found to be a likely criminal conspiracy, an attempted coup that hasn’t ended. They’re setting up for the next coup, telling that story effectively. And I think they’ll do it brings us to the ballot box like 2020.” Slate’s Amicus Podcast 

Barbara McQuade, former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan: “As I have been saying since February…. And even if you can prove that Trump incited the mob that attacked the Capitol, you don’t need to do so to prove the case. Trump’s public pressure on Pence to abuse his power as VP is enough.” Twitter 

Nathan Kalmoe, LSU Political Science Professor: “***Three-quarters of WI Republican leaders*** 

They’ve gerrymandered their way into state power against the majority of voters, & they’ve set their sights on overthrowing federal democracy next.” Twitter 

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections 

CNN: Republicans look to Georgia for a path beyond Trump’s 2020 grievances

FiveThirtyEight: David Perdue Is Just One Of The Many Big Lie Supporters Running In Georgia: 

Politico: ‘No one’s paying any attention’: The week that Republicans ignored Trump’s election lies

ProPublica: The Hypnotherapist and Failed Politician Who Helped Fuel the Never-Ending Hunt for Election Fraud in Wisconsin

Salon: Eric Holder: Democracy is worth saving — and justice is coming for Donald Trump

Slate: Clarence and Ginni Thomas Are Telling Us Exactly How the 2024 Coup Will Go Down

January 6 and the 2020 Election

Politico: Kellyanne Conway: Yes. Trump lost

Politico: Select committee effort to obtain RNC files faces appeals court test

Opinion 

The New Republic (Michael Tomasky): American Conservatism Just Threw a Party for Hungarian Fascism

New York Times (Jamelle Bouie): Why Republicans Love the Land of ‘Illiberal Democracy’

In The States 

New York Times: McCormick sues to count undated mail-in ballots, trailing Oz in Pennsylvania Senate race.

Talking Points Memo: Leading GOP Candidates For Michigan Guv Could Be Disqualified Over Wave of Fraudulent Signatures