Trump has long history of claiming election fraud

At recent campaign rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin, former president Donald Trump doubled down on his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen. And in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he wouldn’t commit to accepting the 2024 presidential election results.

Trump has a more than 10 year history of claiming election fraud.

Regarding President Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012, he tweeted, “This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy!” Some of his other tweets about that election day should sound familiar:

“More reports of voting machines switching Romney votes to Obama. Pay close attention to the machines, don’t let your vote be stolen.”

“We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty.”

“Let’s fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.”

“We have to make America great again!”

Trump also accused Senator Ted Cruz of fraud in the Iowa Caucuses, said he wouldn’t accept the results of the 2016 election unless he won, never accepted that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, and said months ahead of the 2020 election that the only way he could lose is if the election is rigged.

Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator in both Arizona and Michigan’s fake elector schemes.   His election lies have become woven into the fabric of the GOP and of our society.  This is the “poisoning the blood of our country” that we should be most concerned about.

And his lies cause personal harm. He called innocent Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman a “professional vote scammer.” These false charges, amplified by his former attorney Rudy Giuliani, led to threats so severe that Freeman was forced to move out of her home.

Now Wisconsin’s top election official, Meagan Wolfe, is receiving extra security because of baseless accusations by Donald Trump that she would “try to steal another election.”

There have been irregularities in many elections, and it is true that Stacey Abrams, Hillary Clinton and other Democrats have objected to election results in the past.  But their supporters didn’t beat police officers to within an inch of their lives with flag poles.

Vice President Al Gore graciously presided over the Electoral College vote in 2001, a disputed election which he lost to George W. Bush.  After he announced the vote count, Gore asserted, “May God bless our new president and our new vice president, and may God bless the United States of America.”

In contrast, a contentious election 20 years later resulted in Donald Trump defending Jan. 6 rioters’ “Hang Mike Pence!” chants.

President Joe Biden and Donald Trump are accusing each other of being threats to democracy.  According to Daniel Ziblatt, co-author of How Democracies Die, the choice is clear: “To be a politician committed to democracy, there are two cardinal rules: One must accept election outcomes, win or lose; one must not threaten or use violence to gain power. Donald Trump has clearly violated both rules, while President Biden never has.”

How do you trust someone who claims that any election loss for him would be fraudulent?

Terry Hansen is a resident of Milwaukee and a frequent writes letters to Villages-News.com.