Former President Donald Trump, 76, fresh off his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference [CPAC] in National Harbor, Maryland, blasted 91-year-old Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch for not accepting his claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Democrats and the press claim that Trump’s claims of election fraud led to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, something not proven. Yet what also remains unproven is that election fraud significantly changed the 2020 election. Trump hasn’t relented in his claims of massive election fraud, citing propagandist Dinesh D’Sousa’s “2000 Mules,” claiming that Democrats stuffed ballot boxes to fraudulently beat Trump. Whether occasional fraud took place or not, no court found any of Trump’s fraud arguments compelling enough to rule to stop vote certification in any precincts where votes were tabulated.
Whatever caused the Jan. 6, 2021 riots, they were not an “insurrection” as Democrats alleged, impeaching Trump before he left office with “incitement of insurrection,” blaming the riots on his Jan. 6, 2021 speech on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. House Democrats, led by 82-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, alleged that Trump’s speech caused the “insurrection.” But while rioting and mayhem took place Jan. 6, 2021 at the Capitol, it was not an armed insurrection. Rioters from various right wing groups, including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and others, came armed with cell phones, taking selfies after breaking into the Capitol. Trump never told any of his audience to break the law but he did complain about what he sees as election fraud in the Nov. 8, 2020 presidential election. Trump constant references to voter fraud prompted 72-year-old former Atty. Gen. Bob Barr to call the claims rubbish.
Barr didn’t deny that some voter fraud, like all elections, took place on Nov. 8, 2021. Barr simply said whatever fraud took place, it wasn’t significant. Trump refuses to this day to acknowledge he was beaten by 80-year-old President Joe Biden fair-and-square. Democrats and the press have a right to complain about Trump not admitting he lost the election to Biden. What they don’t have a right to do is accuse Trump starting a riot or insurrection. Trump was acquitted Feb. 1, 2021 of “incitement of insurrection” in the U.S. Senate. Yet if you listen to House Democrats, like Pelosi or lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Trump planned and orchestrated the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. Slamming Murdoch on Truth Social, Trump can’t let go of claims about voter fraud. If Trump runs again and loses, how much more voter fraud claims can the public take?
In a recent deposition on the Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News, Murdoch admitted that Fox News hosts promoted Trump’s voter fraud claims when privately they didn’t believe it. “Then there was, of course, FBI/Facebook, another big election integrity fraud costing millions of Votes-& this doesn’t even count all of the many other ways they cheated, or the fact that they avoided State Legislatures,” Trump said. Citing Dinesh D-Sousa shows how Trump relies on right wing conspiracy theorists to validate his twisted beliefs about the 2020 election. Members of his own party don’t want to hear Trump whining about how voter fraud sabotaged his second term. “How does Rupert Murdoch say there was no election fraod when 2000 Mules show, on government tape, that there were millions of ‘stuffed ballots’ . .. “ Trump said.
Quoting Dinsesh D’Sousa shows the extent of Trump warped perceptions of what happened in the Nov. 8, 2022 election. Democrats made a stronger case to voters that it was time for a change at the White House. Trump was so demonized by the press for bungling the Covid-19 crisis or labeling him a white supremacist, voters simply didn’t want to give him another four years. Whether that was a mistake or not, voter fraud was not the key factor that lost Trump the election. When you hear Trump complain about voter fraud now, it’s clearly an obsession that won’t go away anytime soon. Anti-Trump Republicans know that Trump’s chances of winning a general election at this point are slim-and-none. Slamming Murdoch shows how Trump lashes out at anyone that disagrees with his faulty conclusions about the 2020 election. Voters are jaded listening to Trump endless complaints.
Trump problems with the Nov. 8, 2020 presidential election won’t stop anytime soon. He keeps reading the same rubbish like D’Sousa that confirms his own twisted beliefs about massive voter fraud. Judging by the CPAC meeting, a straw poll of largely Trump supporters indicated that 62% of attendees supported his 2024 campaign. With many of the GOP’s biggest donors attending the Club for Growth meeting in Palm Beach, including 44-year-old Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, clearly largely numbers of GOP voters look for a fresh face in 2024. When you look at a match-up with Biden, DeSantis offers voters the most stark contrast with Biden’s advanced age. Recent AP-NORC polls show that even Democrats have reservations about Biden’s age. When it comes to Trump, he’s second oldest candidate, next to Biden, to run for president, giving DeSantis a leg up in the 2024 election.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
