EGN NEWS DESK
For months, Donald Trump has projected confidence on the marketing campaign path that he’s poised to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris. But with lower than per week till Election Day, he’s planting the seeds to say the election was stolen if he loses.
The former President has ramped up his rhetoric this week to sow doubt within the integrity of the end result, notably within the pivotal battleground of Pennsylvania, the place Trump and Harris are basically tied within the polls. He held a press convention Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago, saying there have been “some unhealthy spots in Pennsylvania the place some critical issues have been caught or are within the technique of being caught.” On social media, he claimed that York County had obtained “THOUSANDS of probably FRAUDULENT Voter Registration Forms and Mail-In Ballot Applications from a 3rd party group.” Lancaster County, he added, had been “caught with 2600 Fake Ballots and Forms.” On Wednesday, his marketing campaign sued Bucks County, exterior of Philadelphia, for allegedly turning away Trump voters from submitting mail poll functions. “Pennsylvania is dishonest, and getting caught, at giant scales hardly ever seen earlier than,” he posted on Truth Social.
That’s not an correct characterization of the information. York County officers confirmed a suspicious supply of election-related supplies, together with voter registration kinds and mail-in poll functions, to the county workplace, however set it apart for examination. Lancaster County legislation enforcement and election officers additionally confirmed “incidents of suspected voter registration fraud” doubtless stemming from a “large-scale canvassing operation,” they mentioned, setting in movement a probe. It will not be but recognized which organizations submitted the election supplies—or which candidate they’re supporting. Either method, election consultants say, the incidents show the other of Pennsylvania officers dishonest. Rather, they present they’re efficiently stopping election mischief.
“The system is working on this case,” says Tammy Patrick, who directs the National Association of Elections Officials, “as a result of the registration functions that had been submitted that had been questionable had been remoted and are being investigated.”
Bucks County officers additionally pushed again on GOP claims, unfold extensively on social media, that Trump supporters had been prevented from making use of for mail-in ballots Tuesday in a jurisdiction evenly cut up amongst registered Democrats and Republicans. But it acknowledged a “miscommunication” earlier within the day. Many voters, they mentioned, thought they had been in line to vote in particular person, quite than to use for a mail poll, which they may both fill out and submit on the spot or return earlier than Election Day. Videos present that officers at one location sought to divide an extended line and instructed individuals they’d not be capable to forged ballots, creating confusion amongst some voters. Clips of the ordeal had been amplified by right-wing influencers together with billionaire Elon Musk, who has greater than 200 million followers on X, previously generally known as Twitter, triggering a torrent of on-line outrage. On Wednesday, a Pennsylvania court docket sided with the Trump marketing campaign’s lawsuit, issuing an injunction that extends the deadline to use for mail ballots in Bucks County till Friday.
Harris marketing campaign spokesperson Ian Sams mocked Trump’s dishonest allegations on Wednesday, posting a screenshot on X of one in every of his social media posts. “This will not be what somebody posts if they’re truly assured about their standing in Pennsylvania,” Sams wrote.
The melee is an indication of the high-stakes race in Pennsylvania, which may finally determine the election, and the extent to which Trump and his allies are laying the groundwork to contest the end result there if he falls quick. The former President holds lower than a half proportion level lead within the present 538 common of state surveys, and plenty of pundits say he must clinch the Keystone State to win the Electoral College.
In 2020, President Joe Biden gained Pennsylvania by lower than one proportion level. Now, a community of pro-Trump organizations is pouring tens of millions into the commonwealth to extend GOP turnout. In the ultimate stretch of the election, Musk has donated greater than $118 million to his political motion committee, America PAC, to encourage low-to-mid propensity Trump supporters to vote early within the essential swing state.
Read extra: Across Pennsylvania, Musk Deploys His Fame and Fortune For Trump
The effort marks a departure for Republicans from 4 years in the past, when Trump instructed his followers to vote on Election Day and eschew mail voting, a system he maligned as rife with fraud. This time, Trump’s high marketing campaign lieutenants satisfied him that it was self-defeating to tear early voting, as a result of it allowed the opposition to achieve a aggressive benefit whereas discouraging his backers from voting in any respect.
While the Trump camp, together with allied teams, has constructed an infrastructure to keep away from repeating the identical mistake, critics say his preemptive complaints of “dishonest” are following a well-recognized playbook. “This is solely a replay of 2016, when he mentioned that Ted Cruz’s victory within the Iowa caucuses was because of fraud, and 2020 when he mentioned that Joe Biden’s victory within the presidential race was because of fraud,” says Whit Ayres, a veteran Republican strategist. “It’s par for the course.”
