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Donald Trump has only just discovered that foreign countries—well, actually, just China—try to influence our elections.
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But he forgot to mention that they failed, something he was briefed on by his current CIA Director, John Ratcliffe, who was the DNI at the time. Trump conveniently ignores the fact that Russia, too, tried to influence our elections—in Trump’s favor. None of this is new or unknown to people in government or the public. There was reporting in newspapers, there were declassified reports from the intelligence community, there was even an investigation into whether Russia colluded with a certain candidate’s campaign after he solicited their help, saying “Russia if you’re listening.”
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This regurgitation of old news, with a mix of newly released classified documents, was made out of desperation. Trump’s claims simply don’t hold water. As Andrew Weissmann pointed out, “If, as Trump claims, he has proof of over 250,000 foreigners registered to vote here illegally why have they not been prosecuted?” The Michigan case from 2020 Trump had just discovered? That situation was made public in 2020. It involved fraudulent voter registrations, all of which were caught and voided before the election. “Muskegon Clerk Ann Meisch, who had alerted authorities, said at the time that her office had received an estimated 6,000 applications from a single organization. Most of the applications were valid … but she estimated that ‘several hundred’ had ‘irregularities.’”
Trump’s lies do not bear repeating.
But what is important is understanding what he’s trying to do: He’s searching for a way to legitimize interference in an election he knows his party is going to lose in November. He may not be on the ballot, but it has personal consequences for a man who derives benefit and protection from the presidency. So this is about laying a predicate for intervention and challenges in 2026 and future elections. This could be preparation for using NSPM-7 and going after political opponents. Prepare for the “ghost of Hugo Chavez” to resurface. Trump has a habit of creating fake emergencies and using them to exercise power in unprecedented and illegal ways.
And the irony. Trump: “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.”
It’s no longer 2025. The courts and the public are savvy about Trump’s abuses. Everyone who is paying attention understands he is panicking about November.
After listening to this speech, Fair Fight’s CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo, who was with us live this afternoon, assessed it like this: “It was the as-expected truckload of lies tonight. A desperate Trump is throwing everything at the wall to influence the next election. He is desperate, and he is trying to use lies as the pretext for an abuse of power to try and change how Americans vote. He’s scared of the American people having the freedom to use their power to hold him accountable – we will make our choice at the ballot box, and he will fail.”
The bottom line is simple. I’ve said this a lot and included it in my book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual For Keeping A Democracy. No one would be trying to take your vote away from you with this level of intensity if they didn’t understand how important your vote is, how powerful it makes you. Trump always says the quiet part out loud. He’s doing that now. Your vote matters. Prepare to do whatever it takes this fall to cast it. Let’s put a stop to the lies once and for all.
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We’re in this together,
Joyce