Attorney General William Barr, 70, suddenly becomes the media’s best friend declaring today that he sees no evidence of widespread voter fraud impacting the outcome of the Nov. 3 election. Demonized as Trump;s lapdog since becoming Attorney General Feb. 4, 2019, suddenly the media switches gears accepting the AG’s pronouncement that he finds no significant voter fraud. President Donald Trump, 74, insisted he was “robbed,” the election was “rigged,” refusing to concede now or ever. Whether Trump concedes or not, he’ll be moving out of the White House before Jan. 20, 2021. Only the media continues to obsess over Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of fraud, all stemming from what looked like an early victory Nov. 3, then quickly reversing itself as more universal mail-in ballots were counted. Trump can’t believe he lost to 78-year-old President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump often mused over the possibility of losing to “the worst presidential candidate in U.S. history,” referring to Biden, but, more importantly, how he would cope with losing to Biden. Unlike Trump that campaigned a breakneck speed hosting up to five rallies a day, attended by up to 25,000 followers, Biden barely left his Delaware-home basement. Trump knew he’d be in trouble with universal mail-in ballots not because of voter fraud but because Democrats enjoyed a decisive edge in Party registration over Republicans. Making it easy for people to vote with self-addresd, free postage-paid envelopes dramatically increased the turnout in 2020 to 154 million compared to 129 million in 2016. With Democrats holding at least 6% more in Party registration to Republicans, Biden easily beat Trump. Trump’s claims of fraud simply haven’t been proven.
Putting his stamp on the election, Barr said he didn’t see any evidence of significant voter fraud that would affect the election’s outcome. “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effect a different outcome in the election,” Barr told the press. Coming from Barr, branded by the press as Trump’s lackey, it was welcomed relief dealing with Trump’s tweets about widespread voter fraud. Barr asked U.S. attorneys Nov. 10 to investigate “substantial” evidence of voter fraud, something that never happened, because U.S. attorney refused to follow his order. Trump simply couldn’t fathom the fact that universal mail-in ballots make it easy for 25 million more voters to cast their votes in 2020 than 2016. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) said Nov. 10 that if Congress doesn’t restrict universal mail-in voting Republicans may never win the White House again, something that could happen.
As battleground states continue to certify their elections and with the Electoral College slated to vote Dec. 14, Trump knows that his days in the White House are numbered. Too many GOP conspiracy theorists have wasted time promoting wild ideas about Venezuelan voting software used to alter voters on U.S. government voting systems. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s 55-year-old former attorney Sidney Powell went so far as blaming the voter fraud on the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. While Powell doesn’t speak for the White House or Flynn for that matter, she underscores the wild conspiracy theories found on social networking platforms. Presenting the Hugo Chavez theory of voter manipulation, Powell shows how desperate Trump’s backers to find anything to discredit the election. But as Barr said, there’s nothing substantive to show widespread voter fraud.
Barr dismissed Powell’s assertions about faulty software in U.S. voting machines using Hugo Chavez’s old software designed to manipulate voters. “There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system and a sort of default fix-all, and people don’t like something the want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate,’” Barr said. What it comes down to is Trump’s disbelief caused by his inflated ego that someone as lowly as “Sleepy Joe” could beat him. Trump knows that Democrats have a numerical advantage in Party registration, giving Democrats a decisive advantage in any high turnout election. On the other hand, both Democrats and Republicans go after the independent vote, something Biden did more successfully than Trump. Biden won more independents by exploiting the Covid-19 and economic crisis to scare voters into making a change in 2020.
Barr’s statement carries weight with the media since he represents the federal law enforcement community. Saying there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would affect the Nov. 3 election outcome, Barr essentially asked Trump to give up his protests. “Most claims of fraud are very particularized to the a particular set of circumstances of actors or conduct. They are not systemic allegations. And those have been run down; they are being run down,” Barr said, saying he DOJ has followed up every allegation of voter fraud. “Some have been broad and potentially cover a few thousand voters. The have been followed up on,” Barr said, letting Trump know he’ll get no help from the Justice Department. Whether Barr put his stamp on the election or not, battleground states are not certifying the election results, getting ready for when the Electoral College votes Dec. 14.
