Donald Trump engaged in a very poor exercise on Thursday July 16: once again agitating the conspiracy theory of the presidential election, allegedly “stolen”from 2020. A curious sense of priorities as the war has resumed against Iran and the cost of living remains a major concern in the United States. His fellow citizens must have appreciated it.
The tenant of the White House named the supposed culprits of what he always considered an affront to him: China, Venezuela and a ghost “Deep State”. Russia, which American intelligence concluded had interfered during the 2016 presidential election, narrowly won by the Republican, was not mentioned. Donald Trump also denounced a veritable fifth column of foreign nationals who would vote illegally by the tens of thousands, without ever being found.
These scarecrows had already been raised almost four years ago, after the victory of Democrat Joe Biden. But the judicial guerrilla war led by the last square of the Trumpist faithful to highlight massive cheating had ended in nothingness, which did not prevent an attempted coup against the Congress, on January 6, 2021, to block the alternation.
Protected then by the elected officials of his camp, Donald Trump has never been held accountable for this attack on the mainstay of American democracy, the peaceful transfer of power. On the contrary, he made this denial an act of faith for the Republican Party. After having accompanied, at the time, this crusade as shameful as it was vain, the conservative channel Fox News had to pay colossal sums to a voting machine company accused without proof of manipulation, to put an end to legal proceedings.
In his speech on Thursday, the President of the United States warned against foreign interference. He also demanded that Congress adopt as quickly as possible a law including the obligation to present an identity document before being able to vote. This point should be the subject of broad consensus, but, in a country where having such a document is not self-evident, this haste fuels suspicion.
The mid-term elections, scheduled in less than four months, on November 3, indeed promise to be perilous given the president’s unpopularity. In line with his irresponsible behavior in 2020, his pressure on Republican states has already resulted in them mucking up their electoral maps in the hope of winning a few seats in the House of Representatives.
These maneuvers, to which the Democrats responded with their own redistributions, although more limited, will make these mid-term elections a test for the solidity of the American electoral system. The latter already structurally favors the Republicans when it comes to the Senate and suffers from the now disproportionate weight of money and private interests in the campaigns, following regrettable decisions taken by the conservative majority of the Supreme Court.
By casting suspicion on the elections, due to his inability to recognize the verdict of the people when it is unfavorable to him, Donald Trump is undermining the foundations of democracy in the United States. An alarming undertaking as it celebrates its 250th anniversary.
