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Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump is fueling a new voter fraud conspiracy.
What is happening? California held its primary election last week, and a week later, votes are still being counted in some big races, including the governor’s. That is very common; California has always been slow to count, due to its unique voter-friendly system and heavy reliance on mail-in ballots.
Trump, however, has held up the slow count — and the loss of Republican candidates like Spencer Pratt, who was vying to advance to the general election in the Los Angeles mayoral race — as evidence of something amiss. “It’s impossible for Spencer Pratt to lose the LA runoff after the huge lead he had. 3rd World Nation. Tough Pick,” he posted on Monday.
Other Republicans, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Ted Cruz, have also leaned into the conspiracy.
What is the context? Pratt, a former reality TV contestant who lost his home in the Palisades fire early last year, was in second place in the LA mayoral race as votes were counted.
Throughout the week, however, Pratt lost steadily to LA City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, and on Monday evening, the AP called the race for second place in the November general for Raman. (California uses a first-place primary system, rather than neutral primaries. In heavily Democratic cities like Los Angeles, that means it’s possible to end up with two Democratic candidates and no Republicans in the general election.)
Why this matter? For now, this is a gallery of nuts from Trump. He has no real power over the California election, which will happen – slowly – whatever he says (although the assistant US attorney appointed by Trump in California is. asking for “evidence” of voter fraud on conservative podcasts).
But the renewed enthusiasm of the Republican mainstream for election conspiracies is a guarantee of the midterms. The stakes will be higher, and Trump’s rhetoric is already setting the stage for an even bigger challenge.
And so, it’s time to leave…
Yesterday’s article, about how Trump’s immigration policies are already affecting the World Cup, was a bit disturbing. But the World Cup itself is not, as these videos of fans greeting each other Egypt and Algerian national teams in the United States to catch (from the best football publication Men in Blazers) I hope you enjoy them too, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
