(New York) Hardly a week goes by without Donald Trump signaling his intention to contest the results of the 2024 presidential election.
On August 3, at a rally in Atlanta, the former president attacked the two Georgia Republican officials who refused to help him overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state: Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
“Your governor, Kemp, and Raffensperger are doing everything in their power to make it difficult for Republicans to win in 2024,” he said.
What are they doing? I don’t know. They have something on their mind, you know, they have a little something on their mind. [Le gouverneur Brian Kemp] is very bad for the Republican Party.
Donald Trump, attacking Georgia Republican officials who refused to help him reverse the 2020 results
By contrast, at the same rally, Trump touted three obscure Republican officials on the Georgia State Election Commission, naming them.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard about this, but the Georgia State Election Commission is in a very good position. They’re doing a good job. Three members [en particulier] : Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King. Three people, pit bulls who fight for honesty, transparency and victory. They fight.
Those three “pit bulls” made the difference in a recent vote by the five-member commission. That vote changed the process for certifying election results for each Georgia county. Once a mere formality, certification will now require “certification, after reasonable inquiry, that the count of the votes and tabulation of the election is complete and true and that the results of the election are a true and fair account of all votes cast at that election.”
However, the rule does not define what constitutes a “reasonable inquiry,” and could be interpreted differently from county to county and used to delay or block election certification.
After the vote, Sara Tindall Ghazal, the commission’s lone Democrat, said: “This commission has gone from a commission that followed the rule of law and made decisions based on what federal and state law required and what was best for running elections, to a commission that is driven by far-right narratives.”
According to some scenarios, the results of the 2024 presidential election in Georgia could determine the next occupant of the White House.
Trump questions Kamala Harris’ legitimacy
On August 8, Donald Trump sent another ominous signal. Speaking to reporters at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, he tested a new argument for challenging the results of the 2024 presidential election.
“From a constitutional point of view, no matter which point of view you look at it, they took away the presidency [à Biden] ” said Donald Trump, after calling the president’s withdrawal from the race for the White House a “coup d’état.”
Asked to explain how replacing Joe Biden with Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee might be unconstitutional, Trump responded by noting that the vice president has never won a Democratic primary, including her 2020 presidential campaign.
“The fact that you can get no votes, lose in the primary system – in other words, you had 14 or 15 people, she was the first one out – and then be chosen to run for president seems unconstitutional to me. It seems unconstitutional to me. Maybe it’s not,” he said.
David Axelrod, former strategist for Barack Obama, immediately reacted on X by accusing Trump of laying “the groundwork to reject the results of an election that he now fears he will lose.”
On August 11, Donald Trump began the current week by finding yet another way to question Kamala Harris’ legitimacy as a presidential candidate.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, he first accused the vice president of “CHEATING at the airport” by using artificial intelligence to make it appear as if a massive crowd was waiting for her on the tarmac in Detroit.
PHOTO JULIA NIKHINSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
The crowd waiting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as they arrived in Detroit on August 7.
“She’s a cheat,” he fumed. “NOBODY was expecting her, and the ‘crowd’ looked like 10,000 people! Same with her fake ‘crowds’ at her speeches. That’s how Democrats win elections, by cheating – and they’re even worse at the polls.” [Kamala Harris] should be disqualified because creating a false image is ELECTION INTERFERENCE. Anyone who does this will cheat anytime!”
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It would be tempting to ignore this kind of delusional talk. But this is not Donald Trump’s first big election lie. And he is not alone in his camp.
Christina Bobb, the Republican National Committee’s attorney general for election integrity, was indicted in Arizona earlier this year for her role in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
According to the daily newspaper The GuardianCleta Mitchell, another Trump ally, has “spent the last few years building a network of activists focused on local election boards.” Many of these activists, located in key states, still deny the validity of the 2020 presidential election.
As for Chris LaCivita, co-director of Trump’s campaign team, he openly admits that the former president is ready to contest the results of the November 5 election.
“It’s not over until he puts his hand on the Bible and takes the oath of office,” he said on the sidelines of the Republican convention in Milwaukee during a discussion hosted by the news website Politico. “It’s not over on Election Day, it’s over on Inauguration Day.”
Question from a reader
“Is it possible to donate to Kamala Harris’ campaign even if we are from Canada?” asks a reader who is pleased with the direction of the presidential campaign since Joe Biden’s withdrawal.
Answer
What the United States Federal Election Commission says about it: “Federal law prohibits contributions, gifts, expenditures (including independent expenditures), and disbursements solicited, directed, received, or made directly or indirectly by or from foreign nationals in connection with any federal, state, or local election.”