Months before the 2020 election, President Donald Trump was repeatedly proclaiming that the only way he could lose would be if the election were “rigged.” And so, just hours after it had become clear that Joe Biden was the winner, Trump began complaining that the election had been stolen from him. Indeed, to this day, he has been repeating his “We wuz robbed” mantra thousands and thousands of times.
Trump’s Followers Still Believe That The 2020 Presidential Election Was Stolen
Whether or not Trump actually believes that lie is still being debated. But whether or not he does, tens of millions of his ardent followers still believe that the election was stolen from their dear leader. And Trump keeps telling them that he not only won the election, but that he won it by a lot.
Fair enough! But where’s all the proof he claims to have? There was a major effort to check the results in two of the most closely contested states – Arizona and Georgia. But in both cases the results remained the same: Biden had beaten Trump by very slim margins.
Trump and his faithful followers have now had nearly three years to prove that the 2020 election was stolen, yet none of them has presented even a shred of evidence. But they are so intent in wanting to continue believing that Trump actually won that they continue trying to spread this blatant lie.
The truth is irrelevant to them. They so fervently want to believe that Trump won that they just refuse to let the actual facts stand in their way. They deeply need to believe Trump’s repeated lies because their own self-worth depends upon it.
They can’t bring themselves to admit that they have been slavishly following this vile charlatan for all these years, while he reciprocated by telling them still more lies. In fact, they’re so heavily invested in those lies that all they can do is continue doubling down on their failing investment.
Is it even possible to somehow convince a sizeable number of Trump’s true believers that Trump really didn’t win the 2020 election? Please consider what might be termed “the scientific approach.”
Virtually all of Trump’s most ardent followers would agree that the 2020 election was stolen in these six battleground states – Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And Trump himself would be called upon to finally put up or shut up. Surely, he would want the whole world to finally see all the evidence he claims to have gathered.
A bipartisan committee of political scientists, voting pattern experts, computer wizards, and other election specialists could be formed to do an exhaustive study of how the election was conducted and whether or not the election might have been stolen.
Every American would be invited to submit evidence of electoral misconduct in these six states, which would also be considered. The study could be paid for with a substantial appropriation from Congress.
What would be especially helpful would be any leads that could be followed, or the submission of any evidence that might help prove that the election had been rigged. While Trump has never let up on his claims of voting fraud, he never did present even a shred of evidence to back up his assertions.
So far, so good. Surely, virtually all these Trump supporters would agree that their concerns were finally being addressed.
Before revealing the results, let me ask you two questions. First, if this study concluded that there had been widespread cheating – which may have likely affected the outcome — what percentage of ardent Trump supporters would immediately accept these results?
OK, we all know exactly how they would react. They would be overjoyed because their guy won, and they would have been proven right after all.
That brings us to my second question, which you can easily guess. If this study concluded that there had not been widespread cheating, what percentage of the biggest Trump supporters would uncritically accept these results?
Again, we both know the answer to that one. Surely, not a whole lot!
So, what does all that analysis prove? I think it proves one very important fact. All of these loyal Trump followers will believe anything he tells them. They want to believe him. Indeed, many of them may even know he’s lying to them, but these poor souls still blindly follow their leader. If the truth is too painful, then “alternative facts” will be much more comforting.
