Donald Trump’s rhetoric on election integrity has deeply affected many of his supporters’ perception of the U.S. election system.
Former President Donald Trump, who in recent days has been attacking Vice President Kamala Harris for not being on the campaign trail much as he has, escalated his rhetoric this week by repeatedly floating a baseless conspiracy theory that his opponent took a day off in the critical final stretch until Election Day because she might already know « something » about the results, sowing distrust in the election.
« You know where Kamala is today? They don’t want to tell you. No, no, no. You don’t know where she’s. She’s sleeping. Took a day off », Trump began shortly after taking the stage at his campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Tuesday evening, continuing his line of attacks based on the fact that she didn’t hold any public campaign events 14 days out from Election Day, even though her campaign says she was taking the day to prep for and participate in two major network interviews.
« We have 14 days [until] the most important election in the history of our country … How do you take a day off? Fourteen days », Trump continued.
Then he suggested baselessly that « maybe she knows something that we don’t know. You think she knows some kind of result that we don’t know about? Maybe she knows something », he implied without getting specific before quickly backtracking, « I doubt it. She’s bad news. »
He doubled down on this baseless rhetoric on Wednesday night in front of a massive crowd of more than 10,000 at a rally in Duluth, Georgia, repeating the line, « Maybe she knows something we don’t know. That’s bad, right? »
He then further installed the idea, asking, « Does everybody understand that? » The crowd cheered and responded, « Yes. »
It was the latest in the long line of Trump’s comments undermining the public’s trust in the U.S. election system over the last few years, along with his baseless accusations of his political opponents « cheating », constant bashing of mail-in voting and continued push for the need for his supporters to « protect the vote. »
His rhetoric on election integrity has deeply affected many of his supporters’ perception of the U.S. election system with many voters at Trump rallies over the past two years telling ABC News that they don’t trust the election system.
Trump’s repeated comments that he will accept the results of the 2024 election « only if it’s fair and legal » has fueled such distrust among his supporters — a baseless suggestion of the possibility that the current election might not be « fair. »
Just over the weekend, Trump, answering press questions through a Pennsylvania McDonald’s drive thru window during a campaign photo op there said, « Yeah sure, if it’s a fair election. Always. I’ll always accept it if it’s a fair election », when asked if would accept the result of the 2024 election.
And during a podcast with right-wing commentator Patrick Bet-David released last week, Trump baselessly claimed: « If the election’s not rigged, we’re going to win. If it is rigged, I guess that’s a different story, but we’ll find out pretty soon. »
On Monday, Trump, at a press conference during his visit to a hurricane-damaged part of North Carolina, acknowledged that he had not seen any evidence to suggest that the 2024 presidential election would not be fair.
Later that day at a campaign rally in Greensboro, Trump said his hand-picked Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley will « stop the cheating » by his political opponents.
