Name: Trump’s Big Election Conspiracy Is the Only Thing Saving Republicans from Total Irrelevance
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Trump’s Big Election Conspiracy Is the Only Thing Saving Republicans from Total Irrelevance

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Forgoing the kind of soul-searching that might normally follow electoral losses like the ones they suffered in November, Republicans have instead gone all-in on a to keep Americans from voting, using Donald Trump’s bogus claims of election fraud to power a to make it more difficult to cast ballots. Much of the action has taken place at the state level, where the GOP wields significant power and has put forth more than 200 proposed laws to restrict voting access. Far from acting alone, state lawmakers have the weight of the Republican party behind them, from Capitol Hill to the GOP money machine. “It kind of feels like an all-hands-on-deck moment for the conservative movement,” Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action, the Associated Press last week. “We’ve had a bit of a battle cry from the grassroots, urging us to pick this fight.”Trump never quite accepted the results of the election he actually won in 2016, so there was virtually no way he’d take a loss in 2020 gracefully. But the extent to which his lies and delusions have taken over his party in the past year has been striking nevertheless. Republicans, who have long viewed high voter turnout as a threat to their job security, have embraced his claims to justify some of their most brazen suppression efforts in decades, and the MAGA faithful have been made to distrust the electoral process, putting pressure on conservative fundraising groups to make voting restrictions a centerpiece of their work. “‘Before I give you any money for anything at all, tell me how this is going to be solved,’” Frank Cannon, senior strategist for the rightwing Susan B. Anthony List and American Principles Project, the New York Times, summarizing conversations with donors who had bought into Trump’s election fraud conspiracies. To keep dollars coming in, groups like Cannon’s have made pushing voter restrictions the “center of gravity in the party.”“It has risen to a degree of prominence it probably has never enjoyed,” Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, a conservative group working to restrict ballot access, told the Times.Trump, in a as odd as it was pathetic, took umbrage with the Times’ reporting, claiming once again that the November election was “illegitimate.” “No wonder so much money is being raised on this issue,” he wrote, “and law-abiding people have every right to do so!” But that characterization implies the distrust in the electoral process stemmed from actual fraud. In reality, it’s the result of a coordinated effort by Trump and allies like Ted Cruz, who in a call with state-level Republicans earlier this month, suggested that Democrats were hoping to empower “illegal aliens” and “rapists and child molesters” through HR1, their bill to expand voting rights. “HR1’s only objective,” he said on the call, to the Associated Press, “is to ensure that Democrats can never again lose another election.”&nbsp;It’s an absurd claim. But for a party lacking real ideas and still searching for its identity, it’s also one of the only things they’ve managed to unite behind. “If you were to poll out activists right now, election integrity is going to be near the top of the list,” Noah Wall, executive vice president of FreedomWorks, told the AP. “Twelve months ago, that wasn’t the case.”More Great Stories From Vanity Fair&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;— Andrew Cuomo’s Biographer on — How Scrambled to Score COVID-19 Vaccinations— A Private Jet of — in Criminal Investigations and Legally Screwed— The Wave of — From the Supreme Court?— Leak of Led to Multimillion-Dollar Settlement— From the Archive: Tragedy— Not a subscriber? to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.Most Popular is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He lives in Chicago.The freshest-and most essential-updates from Washington, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley.

Forgoing the kind of soul-searching that might normally follow electoral losses like the ones they suffered in November, Republicans have instead gone all-in on a to keep Americans from voting, using Donald Trump’s bogus claims of election fraud to power a to make it more difficult to cast ballots. Much of the action has taken place at the state level, where the GOP wields significant power and has put forth more than 200 proposed laws to restrict voting access. Far from acting alone, state lawmakers have the weight of the Republican party behind them, from Capitol Hill to the GOP money...

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Writer. Contributor at VFHive. Words at GuardianUS, RollingStone, newrepublic, and more. Email: eric.david.lutz@gmail.com

Eric Lutz

Vanity Fair is a monthly magazine of popular culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast in the United States.  The first version of Vanity Fair was published from 1913 to 1936. The imprint was revived in 1983 and currently includes five international editions of the magazine. As of 2018, the Editor-in-Chief is Radhika Jones.

Trump’s Big Election Conspiracy Is the Only Thing Saving Republicans from Total Irrelevance

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