Stop the Steal: Ready for round 2?

In the four years since the last presidential election, national and world events have given the American politi-sphere plenty of reasons to forget some of the many, many details of the days that immediately followed that election. Between then and now, Russia launched the largest European land invasion since World War II. The fight against COVID became the fight about COVID, from its origins to relevant treatments and vaccines. The Middle East is closer to full-scale war than it has been in decades. We finally beat Medicare. 

Compared to major issues such as these, one could hardly be blamed for not continuing to ponder the failed electoral investigations in Arizona or failed electoral lawsuits in … just about everywhere. Donald Trump’s extraordinary efforts to prove that he didn’t lose in 2020, perpetually hampered by the fact that he did, slowly faded into the background. But with the next moment when America Decides now upon us, looking back upon the particulars of those efforts is also, very likely, also a method of looking forward, as the Trump campaign and its affiliates have spent months laying the groundwork for the argument that the only way Trump can lose another term in the White House is if the election is stolen from him. You know, again… sort of.

As they say, past is prologue, history rhymes, all of this has happened before and all of it will happen again, etc. Many Americans may not realize just how much they’re living through a replay of 2020, when Trump used the exact same playbook to sow doubts about the election long before any votes were cast. Thus, without further ado, a refresher on just some of the assertions that were made in 2020 and could very well be mimicked if Kamala Harris breaks the 270 electoral-vote mark at some point in the next week.