Trump fans dial down ‘fraud’ rhetoric after poll setback
False election fraud claims have not reached the fevered pitch widely expected after US midterm elections, with many conspiracy-peddling supporters of Donald Trump dialing back the rhetoric that observers say hurt Republican candidates.
Think tanks had warned of a prolonged post-election period of chaos and violence, especially after Trump supporters — who endorsed his “Big Lie” that the 2020 vote was rigged — seized on isolated poll glitches to make similar evidence-free claims.
But the misinformation drive appeared to lose steam after many of Trump’s handpicked candidates got a drubbing at the ballot box, with observers saying their vigorous “election denialism” may have put off voters.
There were nearly 600,000 mentions of voting fraud and similar ideas across Twitter in the week after the November 8 vote, according to Zignal Labs, which studies internet activity.
That marked a significant drop compared to the 2020 election, when Zignal recorded more than 3.5 million such mentions in the same period.
This year, following a “surge” of the fraud narrative on election day when some tabulation machine glitches were reported in the swing state of Arizona, Zignal researchers found that such conversations tapered off 48 hours later.
Trump, who has regularly used his Truth Social platform to drum up support for the false narrative, himself appeared to steer clear of it when he announced Tuesday that he was entering the 2024 White House race.
In his fiery hour-long speech, he tore into his opponent President Joe Biden but barely touched upon fraud, after rumblings within his party that the former president’s “Big Lie” rhetoric had hurt them in the midterms.
“Some part of the Republican party believes the embrace of these narratives demoralised the base, reduced turnout, and led to the selection of substandard candidates,” Michael Caulfield, a research scientist at the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington, told AFP.
“That part of the party needs to talk about the losses, because they want to make a case for a new party direction.” Rightwing supporters and influencers were reeling in shock after the predicted Republican “red wave” did not materialise.
The party failed to wrest control of the Senate and took control of the House of Representatives with only a slim majority, in what was seen as a historically weak midterm performance.
A particular setback was the defeat of multiple Trump-backed candidates for secretary of state — critical posts that oversee elections — in battleground states where the former president tried to overturn his 2020 defeat.
“The public made clear with their votes that they did not want election deniers running elections, certainly in swing states where it was a possibility,” Pamela Smith, president of the nonpartisan nonprofit Verified Voting, told AFP.
The poor Republican showing has prompted some soulsearching even among far-right politicians in Arizona, where Trump-ally Kari Lake lost her race to be the governor of the state.
“We wonder now if we were in an echo chamber,” Republican state senator Wendy Rogers told a right-wing radio host, apparently alluding to her party’s messaging
to voters.
TRUMP, WHO HAS REGULARLY USED HIS TRUTH SOCIAL PLATFORM TO DRUM UP SUPPORT FOR THE FALSE NARRATIVE, HIMSELF APPEARED TO STEER CLEAR OF IT WHEN HE ANNOUNCED TUESDAY THAT HE WAS ENTERING THE 2024 WHITE HOUSE RACE.