The Russians help Trump win

The Washington Post Republicans who admit that Russia interfered in the 2016 election invariably hasten to add that it didn’t affect the outcome, said Max Boot. But many outside experts who’ve examined the Kremlin’s campaign have concluded that “without the Russians, Trump wouldn’t have won.” Here’s why: Trump won Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania by a total of 77,000 votes, or less than 1 percent of votes cast in those states. The Russians made a concerted effort to persuade Bernie Sanders supporters and African-Americans not to vote at all or to vote for independent Jill Stein; that interference included stealing and sharing Democratic Party emails that enraged many Sanders supporters, and spreading anti-Clinton and pro-Trump propaganda online. The Russians may even have altered voter registration records in some states to keep some Democrats from voting. Meanwhile, Russian-generated fake news stories about Clinton and Trump reached 126 million people via Facebook alone, and were widely shared. Was all that enough to change or suppress a few thousand votes? Of course. “The inconvenient truth Putin Republicans won’t admit” is that Russia “attacked our democracy” and succeeded—putting their favored candidate in the White House.