Trump Discredits The Election Process
By Thom Hartmann A...
President Obama is absolutely disgusted with Donald Trump's talk about a rigged election.
He made that very clear this week during a press conference at the White House - in which he called Trump's conspiracy theories about voter fraud "unprecedented".
"I have never seen in my lifetime, or in modern political history, any presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election process before votes have even taken place. It's unprecedented."
The President went on to call Trump a "whiner" and pointed out that there actually is no such thing is widespread voter fraud.
He's right, of course. A recent study found just 31 credible cases of voter fraud out of more than a billion ballots cast between 2000 and 2014.
This is something even some conservatives now admit.
For example - take a listen to what Ohio Republican Secretary of State John Husted - said the other day on NPR:
Kelly McEvers: Donald Trump has tweeted that there is large-scale voting fraud happening on and before Election Day. Is there evidence of that in your state?
Jon Husted: There is not evidence of any of that. In Ohio, we pride ourselves in making our state a place where it's easy to vote and hard to cheat. I want to reassure Donald Trump as a Republican that this is not happening across the country. He may have heard reports of it, but we need facts. And right now, there are no facts that support his claims.
Husted would know. In 2013 - he spearheaded a massive statewide investigation of voter fraud which ended up concluding what everyone else besides Republican voters already knew, that voter fraud is incredibly rare and that the instances in which it does occur are most often honest mistakes - not malicious attempts to steal elections.
John Husted isn't the only Republican who's now talking like this.
Over the past few days - Republican Secretaries of State in Tennessee - Washington - and Colorado - have all called Donald Trump's talk about voter fraud and rigged elections "irresponsible".
Obviously - it's good to see Republicans embrace reality - or at least pay lip service to it.
But this newfound appreciation for facts and "responsible" rhetoric shouldn't fool anyone.
Republicans have pushed voter fraud conspiracy theories for decades to justify everything from voter suppression ID laws to cutbacks on early voting.
And what Donald Trump is saying right now about rigged elections is no different than what right-wing politicians and pundits have said hundreds of times before -- it just happens to be Donald Trump saying it.
All the other Republicans knew it was just a scam to throw millions of minority, young, and elderly voters off the rolls, but apparently Donald Trump believed it was true.
You would have heard the exact same talk if you turned on Fox So-Called News or right-wing hate radio at any point over the past 10 years.
So if Republicans are uncomfortable with Donald Trump's election-rigging talk - they only have themselves to blame.
Comments
#2
It upsets me terribly when I hear people improperly discussing "voter fraud!" What actually began to happen, in the 2000 election, was ELECTION FRAUD -- which was primarily performed by the Republicans. This ELECTION FRAUD had many facets, from manipulated computerized voting machines to outright ballot manipulation -- like in the 2004 election.
When investigators started getting the publics attention and pointing the finger at the Republican Party, they (the Republicans) immediately started re-directing the public's attention to VOTER FRAUD and thus started a massive national campaign to pass legislation to combat a nonexistent problem while making it more difficult for voters (mostly Democrats) to vote. The Republicans joyfully gave themselves a "two-fer" -- at our expense!
Thom, I'm surprised that you have fallen into their corrupt meme and instead ignored the real -- and VERY imporatnt story, in this article!
#3
Tom
I just ask you to remember back to the 2000 election when the supreme court elected Donald Duck for our president for a period of 8 years. It's amazing for you to dismiss our electronic polling as being honest, really tom! We have't had a honest election for many years and certainly this will be a case in point this year.
Don't get me wrong both canditates are just a joke. Hilery should be in Jail and Donald is not certainly open minded. To have either of these two represent the US in world affairs is just a absolute tradegy. The clinton/bush crime family surely has the fix on.
#4
Thom, you have spoken many times on your program about ELECTION fraud, the wholesale theft of votes due to our tabulation systems being run by private corporations who keep the process a secret. We have not fixed this broken system, which allows tampering at the precinct level, as well as at the central tabulator level.
These secretive digital systems offer no way to truly verify an eleciton. Thom, I have heard you voice this concern so many times.
The problem is, since this broken system has never been fixed, the vulnerabilities still exist - and are available for someone like Trump to point out. Unfortunately, he can claim the election was rigged and there is no way to disprove him.
There are no paper ballots to recount. There is only digital information that is vulnerable to tampering and hacking.
We've handed this mess to Trump on a silver platter and given the kind of person he is, we shouldn't be surprised that he's exploiting it.
#5
The Republican Party's strategy to win is to surpress the votes of minorities, aged, and women. They have employed tactics that make it increasingly difficult for those leaning Democratic to register and if registered to vote. They have succeeded in preventing hundreds of thousands if not millions of American citizens from voting and they have bragged about their success. The Federal Courts are slowly catching up with these unfair and illegal actions by elected officials but it is a constant battle. Voter fraud is a rare occurrence but voter suppression is just the way the Republicans like to conduct elections, that is how they win in many instances.
#6
Sooo,,, Trump is right. Then, why are so many offended by him saying it?
#7
David S Lynch is correct. At the local level the digital voting machines are highly vulnerable to election fraud. However I do agree voter fraud isn't and has never been a problem.
If anyone thinks election fraud is below the Teapublican Party after what they have put this country through the last eight years.... then you must have your head where the sun doesn't shine.
#8
We support AuditAz. We are worried about Election fraud.
#9
There is a big difference between voter fraud and election fraud. It was election fraud that got Bush elected and it was election fraud that made sure that Hillary beat Bernie in the primary. Trump said he would reserve judgement about whether or the election was rigged until after the election. As far as i am concerned that was the only reasonable answer a person could give. Believe me, that doesn't mean I will vote for Trump. I will not be voting for the corporate war monger either. I'll vote for Jill Stein.
#10
As a member of Michigan Election Reform Alliance (MERA), we find that there is NO Voter Fraud (findings are insignificant mathematically). However, there is ELECTION FRAUD as we have shown in Beverly Harris' Black Box Voting Court win. Rigging machines can take as little as 3 seconds and you don't need to be an IT expert to do that. Software which is protected under Patent Rights forbids us from scrutinizing it. Quality Control of this software is severely lacking. Do votes get flipped ...yes, they do and it can be done discriminately without anyone ever noticing. Small numbers when races are close go unnoticed. Rules to obtain ballots for recounts? FOIA costs have soared and time intervals make it almost a redundant exercise. Once they have the positions...and we prove fraud...nothing happens. No penalties. No penalties are imposed on those that benefit from obtaining their seats thru fraud and proving it takes too long. We have 3+ court cases now over sabotaging of Sanders campaign. Whether we win or lose - nothing changes. Obama promised a Voting Reform Act in '08 and nothing became of it. If you are truly interested in than get Bob Fitrakis or Beverly Harris on your show!!!! We could use the Experts voice to dispel and set the record straight. Please do for everyone's sake. Thanks.
#11
js121 -- Are you aware of Greg Palast's work? Do you read Brad's blog?
#12
As I've stated before, in order to balance the budget and make the House of Representatives and Senate more responsible, we should do the following:1. Repeal the 27th Amendment. Modify the clause stating that member so Congress shall be paid a salary from the US Treasury by removing the period at the end of the sentence and adding the following: ", except the members of Congress will not be paid from indebtedness and when it becomes necessary that the Congress must authorize and appropriate more expenditures than receipts, the members of Congress shall be provided with lodging and food at the same rat as the lowest paid members of the armed forces. Salaries shall be apportioned to the time actually spent in chambers, either registered into the House of Representatives or the Senate Chambers or the respective Committee chambers during actual hearings proceedings. Expenses during periods of US Treasury indebtedness shall not be allowed to the members of Congress. Any salary or expenses allowed to the members of Congress that have not been paid at the end of the respective Congressional period shall be null and void at the next election date."
This would require a balanced budget depending on receipts to the treasury equally on exceeding the authorized and appropriated expenditures. This is the usual understanding of a "balanced budget" experienced by the ordinary citizenry of the U.S.
#13
Bobcix -- You need to listen to Thom more. Balancing the budget will destroy the economy (just ask Andrew Jackson). You could also ask FDR who tried to balance the budget in 1936(?) and did serious damage to the New Deal. Maybe you could ask Reagan who tripled the national debt and "everybody" loved him.
Your plan would increase the RPM of the revolving door.
The thing you are missing is that the US govt is one of the best investors around. To understand how this works you need to look at debt the way economists do. It is the ratio of what you call the debt to the GDP.
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Tom, what are you becoming a shill for the Democratic Party? Two columns in a row about discrediting talk of election fraud by the Democrats when they engaged in wholesale fraud during the primaries. Are you becoming like Michael Moore?