Looking back, that sequence of events was the first clue that Trump represented the greatest threat to American democracy in its history. Four years later, he proved that he meant every word whenhe perpetrated the Big Lieand incited his followers to storm the U.S. Capitol to prevent the transfer of power. Six years on from that, the entire Republican establishmentnow reflexively claims that if they don’t win, the system is rigged and that Democratic victories are, by definition, illegitimate. Furthermore, most of their voters seem to believe it. At this point, it’s hard to imagine what it will take to restore faith in the election system.
The right has beenundermining the integrity of the vote for decades, long before Trump came along. It’s one of their defining characteristics. Groups like True the Vote have been calling elections into question for years, focusing specifically on non-citizen voting and spurring the demand for voter I.D., despite the fact that multiple studies have shownthat it’s not actually a problem.
