Overview of strategy This is how Trump wants to sow doubt about this year's election
Ahead of the presidential election, Democrats are worried that if Donald Trump loses again, he will not comply and contest the result. That's the strategy.
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- Donald Trump is already laying the groundwork during the election campaign to contest the election result in the event of his defeat
- Trump has made spreading lies about the election a pillar of his ongoing campaign.
- In this election campaign, Trump is supported by a sophisticated operation dedicated to the "integrity of the election".
Donald Trump is already laying the groundwork during the election campaign to contest the election result in the event of his defeat - just as he did four years ago. At rallies, the former president calls on his supporters to give him a victory that is "too big to rig". Trump repeatedly refuses to promise that he will recognize the result regardless of the outcome of the election this time. Instead, he declares that fraud is already underway. In doing so, Trump refers to disproven allegations or absurd and unfounded theories.
"The only thing that can stop us is fraud. It's the only thing that can stop us," the 78-year-old emphasized at an event in Arizona late on Thursday evening.
In 2020, Trump had prematurely declared himself the winner of the election from the White House. He then used political and legal pressure to try to undo his defeat against Democrat Joe Biden. The whole thing culminated in Trump's supporters storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Democrats fear that he could do the same in next Tuesday's presidential election before the race is decided. Trump has made spreading lies about the election a pillar of his ongoing campaign. Not only is he issuing urgent warnings about alleged fraud, but he is announcing that he will take revenge on those he sees as standing in his way.
In this campaign, Trump is being supported by an elaborate operation dedicated to "election integrity", built by his campaign team and the umbrella organization of the Republican Party. Those behind the operation have already filed more than 130 lawsuits, which they claim are designed to ensure that votes are counted properly. More than 230,000 volunteers have been mobilized and trained by Team Trump to act as poll watchers and helpers across the country on November 5.
An overview of Trump's strategy to sow doubt about this year's election and the facts behind each claim.
Are citizens really voting?
THE CLAIM: Trump claims that Democrats let millions of migrants into the country illegally so they could be registered to vote. He has not provided any evidence of this.
In an interview with the news website Newsmax in September, Trump claimed the alleged effort was already underway. "They're working overtime to register people illegally to vote," he said. Many of them, he said, are the very people you see coming across the border.
THE FACTS: It takes years for new arrivals to become citizens, and only citizens can legally vote in federal elections. Isolated cases of noncitizens caught trying to vote - such as a University of Michigan student from China who allegedly voted illegally - do not reflect a larger conspiracy. Research has shown that it is extremely rare for non-citizens to register and vote illegally, and it usually happens accidentally.
Overseas ballots
THE ASSERTION: Trump sees in efforts by Democrats to secure the backing of Americans living abroad as another alleged opportunity for fraud. He has claimed that they were "getting ready to FRAUD!" and wanted to "dilute the TRUE vote of our beautiful military and their families."
THE FACTS: The ex-president has already courted the votes of exiled Americans himself, promising to end double taxation for those who often pay taxes both in the country where they live and to the U.S. government.
Ominous warnings
THE CONTAMINATION: Trump is suggesting that Vice President Kamala Harris may have access to some kind of secret inside information about the outcome of the race, which hasn't even been decided yet. Since the Democratic nominee used a campaign day to be interviewed by broadcasters Telemundo and NBC, he has suggested several times that "she may know something we don't know."
In the US state of Michigan last week, Trump declared that Harris would never campaign with mega pop star Beyoncé if the race was really as close as the polls suggested. "First of all, they're cheating like hell," he said. "So maybe they know something we don't know, right? Why the hell else would they be celebrating if you're behind?"
THE FACTS: There is no evidence of such a Democratic conspiracy. In fact, Trump revealed at a rally in Madison Square Garden in New York that he apparently had inside knowledge himself. During his appearance, he looked at the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, and explained that they had "a little secret" that they would only reveal after the election.
Prior to his election as Speaker of the House, Johnson penned a much-criticized letter that included some adventurous conspiracy narratives surrounding Trump's tale of tampering in the 2020 election.
Focus on Pennsylvania
THE ASSERTION: Trump has focused his ire in recent days on Pennsylvania, one of the most hotly contested states that both his team and Harris' campaign see as potentially electorally decisive. With regard to Pennsylvania, Trump declared that fraud was already underway there.
He recently claimed, for example, that York County had received "THOUSANDS of potentially FRAUDULENT voter registration forms and absentee ballot applications from a third party organization".
He also referenced Lancaster County during an appearance in Allentown, where he said officials had been "caught with 2,600 fraudulent ballots and forms, all filled out by the same person."
THE FACTS: In Lancaster, District Attorney Heather Adams - a Republican - said election officials had raised concerns about two sets of voter registration applications. The reason was numerous similarities that the workers noticed.
Officials were now reviewing around 2500 forms. Mind you, Lancaster County is investigating voter registration applications, not "votes". Officials in the county said some forms contained false names, suspicious handwriting, questionable signatures, incorrect addresses or other problematic details. However, they did not say they were all written by the same person.
York County Chief Administrative Officer Greg Monskie confirmed that his county was reviewing suspicious forms. County Commissioner Julie Wheeler explained that voter registration forms and absentee ballot applications were part of a large shipment containing thousands of election-related materials that the county's elections office received from a third-party organization. Officials emphasized that the discovery and investigation of the applications - not the votes - is more evidence that the system is working as it should.
Threat of prosecution
THE ASSERTION: Trump has threatened severe consequences for those who he says have engaged in "unscrupulous behavior." In a post on social media, he falsely wrote of "rampant fraud and villainy committed by the Democrats in the 2020 presidential election". "IF I WIN, those who FRAUD will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include lengthy prison sentences."
In the posts, he goes on to threaten that those who have engaged in "unscrupulous behavior" - such as election officials, lawyers and donors, "will be sought, detained and prosecuted to a level that unfortunately has never been seen before in our country."
THE FACTS: Judges, election officials and even Trump's own Attorney General William Barr have all confirmed that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. If he wins, Trump says he wants to take action against rivals he considers "enemies within". He also wants to appoint a special investigator to target incumbent Biden. This is more than a theoretical threat, as Trump has repeatedly pushed for investigations into those he considers political opponents during his time in office. Although the Justice Department has checks and balances in place to fend off political interference, Trump could appoint executives who could open cases at his request.
