Submitted by Dallas Smith
Why do MAGA Republicans believe Trump’s Big Lie? Because they want to!
MAGAs believe: Barak Obama is a secret Muslim, born in Kenya; Mexico will pay for the wall; climate change is a hoax; COVID is no worse than influenza; and last but not least, the Big Lie that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen.
Donald Trump knows that all the statements above are false. But he knows that by repeating these lies he (1) gains more followers, and (2) raises more money.
Donald Trump was so worried about losing to Joe Biden, that he threatened to withhold congressionally-mandated military aid to Ukraine, as only one effort to interfere before the 2020 election. After losing the election, Trump started his secret efforts to annul Biden’s electoral victory. These efforts included organizing fake electors and encouraging the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, QAnon, and other fascist groups to join the crowd of supporters in Washington, D.C., ultimately leading to the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol.
For more than the last half century, Communism was regarded as the primary potential threat to our democracy. And yet, our democracy is more threatened today by the Big Lie than we were ever threatened by Communism.
Donald Trump is the ultimate “poor loser.” He can’t persuade a majority of voters to elect him, having lost the popular vote in 2016 and 2020. Thus Trump attempts to hijack the election in any way possible: from using the courts, to supporting state attorneys general who would overturn their states’ votes, to promoting the prospect of more violence similar to the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Election denial is dangerous. This is how MAGA belief in the Big Lie continues to undermine our elections and democracy itself.
Dallas Smith is co-founder with his wife of Healing Healthcare Systems. He is a member of the Reno Jazz Orchestra.
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