In today’s political climate, there are a lot of conspiracy theorists on both sides dominating the news. It seems nearly every day, some Democrat or Republican says some bonkers and outlandish thing that throngs of supporters believe to be true. On the Left, this typically includes most statements involving racism, white supremacy, climate change, or gender ideology. On the Right, this includes such things as “rigged elections.”
It was a claim former President Donald Trump repeated on Friday during a speech in California.
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After proclaiming that he would win a “historic landslide” in the California Republican primary in 2024, he then boasted that Republicans could win the state in a general election.
“With your support in this election, we’re going to win the California primary in a very big, beautiful, historic landslide,” Trump said.
He continued, “And you know most candidates would say we’re going to win California. Well, I’ll tell you what, I’ll say it a little bit differently because we would win California in a general election if they didn’t have a rigged voting system.”
But this is just unequivocally false.
Democrats have dominated California elections for decades. It has nothing to do with a “rigged election process” but rather that most voters in the state align more with liberal, left-wing, Democratic beliefs and ideals than Republican values. There isn’t some grand conspiracy, as Trump insinuated, that is preventing a Republican victory in general elections. It’s the number of Democrat voters in the state that is causing those defeats.
Consider that the last time a Republican won California in an election was 35 years ago, in 1988. It’s a streak that is not changing anytime soon. And Trump positing otherwise does nothing but throw fuel on the conspiracy fire in front of his supporters. It’s dishonest and manipulative and does significantly more harm than good.
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It’s one thing to preach optimism and have a strategy to win over California voters to the Republican Party. It’s another thing entirely to make wild and baseless accusations that a rigged voting system is to blame. Trump’s remarks fuel division that is based on incorrect information. Making people believe there is a rigged voting system without offering any proof doesn’t help achieve a Republican victory.
Instead, Trump should promote why his platform and policies are beneficial to California voters and could help cure many of the state's problems.