Closing the book on Trump’s presidency
The expression “the big lie” is credited to Adolf Hitler in his 1925 book, Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so “colossal” that no one would believe that someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” He wrote, “In the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.”
That’s one way to describe Trump’s so-called Stop the Steal crusade to overturn the election of Joe Biden. Although Stop the Steal may sound like a new 2020 slogan, it did not begin with Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voting fraud in his race against Biden; it’s been in the works for years. Trump’s so-called Stop the Steal has its roots in his 2016 campaign.
Stop the Steal was created by Roger Stone, a veteran Republican operative and self-described “dirty trickster” whose 40-month prison sentence for seven felonies was cut short by Trump’s commutation in July. Stone’s political action committee launched a “Stop the Steal” web site to raise funds before the 2016 election, asking for $10,000 donations by saying, “If this election is close, THEY WILL STEAL IT.” He first used the slogan during the 2016 primaries, claiming a “Bush-Cruz-Kasich-Romney-Ryan-McConnell faction” was attempting to steal the Republican nomination from Trump. In October 2016, his web site said, “Donald Trump thinks Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are going to steal the next election.”
When Stone launched Stop the Steal in 2016, it wasn’t just a campaign slogan and fundraising web site; it also became a self-described “vote protectors” project that recruited volunteers to monitor polling places. Stone told CNN that the purpose of the group was “to insure [sic] the integrity of the vote.” Sound familiar? Last fall, as the 2020 election drew closer, there was talk in right-wing circles about resurrecting Stop the Steal. A Stop the Steal Facebook group took off immediately, attracting some 300,000 followers in its first 24 hours.
Given the huge turnout on November 3, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Trump received so many votes. In any other year, his 74 million votes would have been a record, but Biden received even more votes, 81 million. What could explain this? The election results are in line with months of data collected by the nonpartisan Gallup Poll. Gallup never found Trump’s approval rating higher than 49 percent, and it was only 43 percent in the final pre-election poll. His share of the vote was 47 percent, squarely in the range of his approval rating during the five months leading up to the election. Meanwhile, the share of Americans who disapproved of the president had never sunk below 50 percent in that same period, fluctuating between 52 and 55 percent for the six weeks before Election Day. Ultimately, 51.3 percent voted against him.
Trump had the opportunity to create the largest jobs program in American history, spending trillions of dollars to give people meaningful work restoring infrastructure, building new bridges and airports, and creating a de facto single-payer health-care system by lowering the age threshold for Medicare and allowing middle-class households to opt out of their employer’s coverage. Instead, he chose to be the most divisive president ever.
Biden’s approval rating has improved by 20 points just since his election, rising to 51 percent from 31 percent. Trump’s approval rating has dropped 15 points to 40 percent from 55 percent.
Ejections are the foundation of a liberal democracy. Losers voluntarily leave office, winners assume rightful power. There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution mandating that presidents concede graciously, but it is a centuries-old practice. And so tomorrow, 59 unsuccessful court suits by the Trump campaign notwithstanding, a joint session of Congress will convene by the Trump campaign, with Vice President Pence presiding, to certify the results of the Electoral College and the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States.
Today is the special election in Georgia to fill two Senate seats. Georgia, you may remember, is where the Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who supported Trump, said, “We’ve never found systemic fraud, not enough to overturn the election.”
Stop the Steal has succeeded in one way: it has already raised more than $200 million for Trump. Perhaps that’s why he won’t concede as long as it brings in money. Is that the art of the deal, or the act of a con artist?
Mark Berg is a community activist in Adams County and a proud Liberal. His email address is MABerg175@Comcast.net.