Trump lost the 2020 election by a big margin - Biden 51.33% (81,009,468) Trump 46.96% (74,111,419) - 306 to 203 Electoral College votes. Most people would say that Biden won by 4.37% (51.33 - 46.96 = 4.37%), but a clearer picture is to say that 9.3% more people voted for Biden than Trump (51.33/46.96 = 1.093).
BUT, Trump put out the most ridiculous lie in American history, that he actually won the election and that he won it by a landslide. And, Republican politicians are saying that his Big Lie is true, and the Trump Cult appears to, or simply pretends to, believe the Big Lie.
Why?
Why say that Trump lost because the Democrats cheated? A couple of reasons. There are enough dumb, or brainwashed, or hopelessly polarized Republicans to believe it enough to CONTRIBUTE millions of dollars to Trump and his Republican politicians. And enough of them to SUPPORT Trump Cult media personalities and make them very wealthy indeed.
BUT, there is a bigger reason - THEY GET TO CHEAT IN 2022/2024/2026 etc.....
Trump thought he was going to lose in 2016 so he proclaimed ahead of time that he wouldn't accept the result - then to his shock he won.
Trump knew he would lose in 2020 so he proclaimed ahead of time that he wouldn't accept the result - why? SO HE COULD CHEAT IN 2024.
And, the entire Republican Party is passing laws at the state level to keep blacks, browns, and reds away from the polls. They get to pretend that it is fitting to do so because, as their Cult Leader told them over and over and over again, he only lost because the Democrats cheated, so they get to cheat TOO.
And, of course, the Republicans have been on a decades long project to gerrymander the states so that they can lose state house popular votes yet still get more state house representatives and send more Reps to Washington and pass more Jim Crow voter suppression laws.
First principles of propaganda - Tell the Big Lie - Repeat Repeat Repeat Repeat - Accuse the other of doing exactly what you are actually doing - Instill as much fear into the populace as you can.
It is not just Trump. The Cult was ready to mobilize behind him and are trying to dominate once again.
And they will fail, because of a couple of things. First the Trump Show has grown old and the ratings are way down; Second there is no Trump Successor - one who is already a celebrity and dumb enough, unprincipled enough, and insane enough to be Trump 2.0. He is a one off and the show is over.
The Republican Party is desperate to cheat because they have nothing else they can do. It's all over except the shouting but there will be a lot of shouting.
Oh well.
