Trump's Election speech was a failure but he's still a dangerous threat to the 2026 election
Trump has back up plans that demand coverage!
Donald Trump’s much hyped speech on Thursday night intended to help him rig and/or steal the 2026 election was undisputably a bomb. It made the Hindenburg look like a pleasure cruise. But please understand that doesn’t mean Trump and the GOP are giving up their plot to end our democracy to establish a “100 year” GOP majority—as Trump has literally been promising.
Trump’s speech, though, was like a trainwreck hit a dumpster fire. Instead of being focused on elections it ranged from claims of “transgender for everyone” to lashing out at the TV networks that refused to air his speech. Meanwhile, Trump’s purported goal of building support for his “Rig The Elections act”—which he calls the SAVE Act—was a joke. Trump focused on China, Venezuela and other foreign actors attempting to interfere in our elections—all true--but none of that is addressed in his beloved SAVE Act.
To give you a sense how much of a failure it was, want to guess how many times Fox & Friends the next morning mentioned it, played clips from it, discussed it, etc.? The answer is zero. Literally. As Media Matters documented, Fox anchors barely even mentioned the election claims Trump made after his speech wrapped up Thursday night.
Worse for Trump, on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal’s editors penned an editorial titled, “The SAVE America Act Backfire.” As the WSJ detailed, the newly declassified intelligence documents Trump released Thursday actually undermined his goals noting, “Vote tabulation systems would be difficult to manipulate on a wide enough scale to compromise election results.” They even slammed Trump’s claim the SAVE Act is simply a voter id law given that in reality it would mean “most driver’s licenses would be insufficient to register to vote” and it “overrides laws in many GOP state that offer mail ballots for convenience.”
Yes, Trump’s speech was a big fat failure. But with that said it’s important to note Trump has never been more dangerous. Neither he nor his GOP co-conspirators will stop with their plans to rig the midterm and steal it if Democrats—as are expected--do win.
When it comes to Trump and especially the GOP, their goals never change—only their tactics do. We have seen example after example in recent years. For example, they worked more than 50 years to overturn Roe v. Wade—which they finally accomplished in 2022.
The right hated The Voting Rights Act since it was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in August 1965. Finally, this Supreme Court term they in essence killed it. Yep, it took 60 years but finally they ended the seminal voting rights legislation in US history.
Now their goal is to end our democracy—at least in terms of having full and fair elections. Sure, they will commit to the charade of voting--but they only accept the elections when they win. That is increasingly a bedrock part of the GOP’s platform thanks to Trump.
That is why I can say with 100% certainty Trump and the GOP—with few exceptions—will win work towards their stated goal of a “100 year” GOP control of the United States by rigging and if necessary stealing elections.
In fact, Trump’s back up plans are already in motion. In March, he signed a sweeping executive order that would give him control of all elections. As the Brennan Center warned, “If implemented, the order could disenfranchise millions of American citizens, compromise the security of sensitive personal data, and disrupt election administration across the country.”
The principal thrust of the order is to charge the U.S. Postal Service with determining who may vote by mail and instructs it to refuse to deliver ballots sent by anyone not included on newly created federal mail voter lists. It threatens criminal penalties for election officials, mail carriers, and others who send ballots to or deliver ballots from individuals the administration deems ineligible.
It also requires stringent proof of citizenship that millions of Americans—even those born here—don’t readily have.
Another aspect of Trump’s back up plan is being carried out by his Postmaster general David Steiner despite litigation challenging the executive order. Steiner recently testified before the Senate that the Post Office would not deliver mail-in ballots in states that refuse to hand over sensitive voter data to the Trump administration, telling lawmakers it was meant to ensure the “right ballots are going to the right people.”
And alarmingly, on Friday, a three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously halted a lower court order that blocked the Postal Service from restricting delivery of mail-in ballots that don’t provide eligible voter lists to the federal government. That means the Post office can draft a new regulation to implement Trump’s executive order. At that point, the courts will review the rule to see if it’s constitutional.
Thankfully, a separate judge in Massachusetts blocked the order last month. But if this case gets to the corrupt Supreme Court, we have to be prepared they will rule in Trump’s favor—giving him powers to run our elections in a way no President before has.
Trump’s plan is also about making our elections less secure--allowing him to claim there was fraud. As the NY Times reported recently, Trump during his second term has overseen significant cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, including to its election work. That agency had been a lead federal partner for states on election security efforts since the 2016 election, sharing cybersecurity best practices and intelligence about foreign intentions around elections.
Other federal agencies have also downsized their election security work, including the F.B.I. and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. And just two weeks ago, Trump forced out the three remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission, an independent, bipartisan commission that supports states in administering their elections. In recent years, much of the small commission’s work also focused on cybersecurity support to states.
Now you get it. Trump is not close to giving up on his dream to rig our elections. And we can’t stop being vigilant and ready. Not for a moment!
Thanks Dean and yes, the Trump Regime are not going to stop messing with the mid-term or 2028 elections. The mid-terms have to be too big to rig big time with massive results for the Democrats.
Yes, Trump and gang will try anything and everything. They are cornered rats, dangerous.
Even the *perception* of a risk of violence will depress voting, especially among women and marginalized community members. The anticipated violence could be verbal or physical; people stay home.
Which means that Trump, Bannon, and Markwayne Mullin's repeated threats serve the purpose of keeping voters away. The regime has lost 16 cases and won 0 in the attempt to grab nonpublic voter data from the states. That won't stop any of these guys from continuing to threaten.
This is an urgent matter of public safety.
There is a practical way we can take action. An article on The Existentialist Republic's Substack takes CA's bill making it a felony to seize ballots, and expands it to SEVEN offenses in addition to seizing ballots. Unauthorized access to voting systems and nonpublic voter data, intimidation of election officials and workers, interference with the canvass or certification, refusal by an official to perform a required certification duty, destruction of election records, and coordinated armed deployments at election facilities.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-206649574
There is model legislation for state legislators. This is what professional lobbyists do all the time: write up the bill and hand it to the legislator. We make it easy for them. The legislators adjust it as needed. This bill is written to operate while the crime is happening (rather than the months' long process of investigation etc, which will not be enough to protect our election.