‘Stop The Steal’ did not start with Trump, but its publicity did.
Election conspiracies have always been present in our society, Trump just happened to expose it widespread as a brand.
Feb 15, 2021
To this day, because of complications associated with the efficiency of its voting machines, frequent administrative corruption, election officials’ propensity to follow laws that favor their party over democracy itself, the systematic exclusion of more than 6 million felons and ex-prisoners, the US electoral system is widely regarded as an inconsistency in the United States.
Briefly after former President George W. Bush took office in 2001, the Bush administration heavily campaigned on voter fraud. The following year, Attorney General John Ashcroft declared in his announcement regarding the Voting Access and Integrity Initiative and Justice Department’s U.S attorneys fraud investigation, that America has failed too frequently to make every vote count, that voters have been cheated into signing absentee ballots in hopes for alleviation, and that many votes counted were later revealed to be from deceased citizens.
“America has failed too often to uphold the right of every citizen’s vote, once cast, to be counted fairly and equally. Votes have been bought, voters intimidated, and ballot boxes stuffed. The polling process has been disrupted or not completed. Voters have been duped into signing absentee ballots believing they were applications for public relief. And the residents of cemeteries have infamously shown up at the polls on Election Day,” Ashcroft states.
In 2007, the Justice Department found no evidence of any intentional effort to temper with the election results, according to court and interview records.
In contrast to the Bush administration, former President Donald Trump’s attempt to interfere with the 2020 election outcome, amid warnings from Republican and Democratic officials of the dangerous effects, the president inspired violent groups to attack democracy and the government officials they were elected to serve just so Trump can remain in the White House. Trump provided support and authority in earlier remarks to armed insurrectionists in states that had implemented pandemic restrictions. Trump declined to tell during the election season that he would guarantee a peaceful transition of power, refused to denounce white nationalists, and instead supported the Proud Boys and QAnon affirmatively and telling them to “stand back and stand by”.
Furthermore, on June 4, 2020, the Trump reelection campaign sent out a fundraiser email asking supporters to enlist in “The Trump Army”. The email was a brief invitation to be a part of this group with an introduction typed in caps: “This email is FOR PATRIOTS ONLY” with a limited edition ‘Keep America Great’ hat as an incentive.“The president wants YOU and every other member of our exclusive Trump Army. YOU are the President’s first line of defense when it comes to fighting off the Liberal MOB”, the email states.
Like nearly every other email he sends, it flies out indiscriminately, and it starts with flattery, rises by selling its readers membership offers in a special echelon of Trump fandom, and heavily implies that all Trump supporters are under literal martial attack from liberals, making their opponents sound more like enemies. Fear and anger are provoked into their supporters causing them to do egregious actions.
Usually, all political fundraising emails are anxious and thirsty, and they all cultivate a comprehensive mix of flattery with urgent alerts to their readers about what will happen if the opposition wins. But emails from Trump are unique in just how aggressive and bullying they are to their recipients, to the extent where both the left and the right have called them out as such.
On August 17, 2020, Trump stated in a speech in Wisconsin that the only way he would lose the 2020 election, as if it was rigged — a statement he repeated in a speech on Aug. 24 at the Republican National Convention. Since May, Trump had been tweeting that mail-in-ballots would mean the election is rigged, which he also repeated in media appearances and other public statements.
On November 1, 2020, Pro-Trumpers attempted to slow down the Biden campaign bus and run it off the road while traveling between San Antonio and Texas. Out of caution, an event at the Texas AFL-CIO was canceled. Trump praised supporters who swarmed the campaign bus, in intention to possibly harm Biden and his crew.
“Did you see the way our people were protecting his bus?” Trump says boastfully at a rally in Washington, Mich., hours after tweeting a video of the caravan with the message: “I LOVE TEXAS.” “They had hundreds of cars. Trump. Trump. Trump, and the American flag.”
The determination to win an election has become less about the Republican Party winning together — it’s more of an ego-ran campaign for Trump himself. This is by far, witnessing the “Trumpification” of the Republican Party, where violence and possibly death is condoned for those who are not supporters of him — a cult.
Republicans beg Trump to tamp down his rhetoric, in concern that it will lead to violence. Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election official in Georgia, asks Trump in a passionate viral speech: “Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed. And it’s not right.”
Since Joe Biden was officially declared as the winner of the 2020 election, Trump proceeded with his rhetorical outrage from his 2016 campaign to the end of his presidency which concluded on January 20, 2021. He expressed his outrage by encouraging his supporters to “fight like hell”. On the day of the capitol, Trump stated in his speech to his supporters that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Eventually, Republican congress members jumped on board with the ‘Stop The Steal’ campaign, increasing the hype for Pro-Trumpeters.
On January 3, Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas outrageously encouraged supporters to show up to Capitol Hill.
Republican senator Josh Hawley of Missouri was the first senator to announce his intention to object to the Electoral College count on January 6, 2021 — raising his national profile.
Hours before the Capitol siege on January 6th, he saluted pro-Trumpers outside Capitol with a happy fist-pump before they stormed the capitol, which was motivating to the angry rioters and a green light to proceed with their intentions.
Soon after, the Capitol was rioted by angry pro-Trumpers which eventually led to the shooting and killing of a woman participating in the siege and a police officer — other lives of the Congress, including former vice-president, Mike Pence could’ve been seriously harmed in this siege as they were the targeted victims.
Five people died in the assault, including the U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. Another fifteen officers are hospitalized, with 56 in total reported injured.
What we’ve seen was another spin of the ‘Stop the Steal’, but the movement has been around in the shadows of the previous elections — it just never turned into a chaotic disaster like what we witnessed on January 6th. There have always been election conspiracies, they just never have been televised widespread like modern times for everyone to see. As we’ve seen, there were conspiracies in the 2000 election, just almost 21 years ago. However, they didn’t attempt to incite a civil war.
Trump doesn’t compete with opponents, he competes with enemies. He developed a personal relationship with his supporters, which is very emotionally charged — explaining why his supporters just about do what’s demanded by him. Donald Trump did not necessarily start ‘Stop the Steal’, but perhaps he adapted that idea from under the Bush administration and made the campaign ego-driven which led to a very fragile democracy with the cost of American lives.