If it’s a day ending in “y,” Donald Trump is at war with some facet of American democracy. In this case, Trump took to Truth Social in a falsehood-filled “online tantrum” declaring that mail-in voting (as well as electronic machines used by millions of Americans) should be eliminated. From Steve Benen writing for MaddowBlog:
The 288-word online tantrum—complete with six exclamation points, a robust number of sentences written with the caps lock on and the word ‘woke’—was remarkable in its inanity. Trump claimed that no other country on the planet ‘uses Mail-In Voting,’ which isn’t even close to being true. He similarly accused Democrats of cheating in elections, which also isn’t true. But the Republican, who’s become increasingly unsubtle about his authoritarian ambitions, also made clear that he’s eyeing yet another power grab, claiming an administrative authority over elections that the Constitution explicitly gives to states.
via Steve Benen, MaddowBlog
As Benen also notes, Trump took an earlier swing at “overhauling” (in reality, blowing up) America’s voting system via executive order.
Two months into his second term, Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order intended to overhaul dramatically how elections are administered in the United States, taking aim at everything from voter registration requirements to election equipment to mail-in ballot deadlines. NBC News noted that the ‘reforms,’ if implemented, would’ve risked ‘disenfranchising tens of millions of Americans.’
via Steve Benen, MaddowBlog
If there were an overarching theme for Trump’s second stint, it would be “exercising power he does not have.” Such is the case here, as noted by Benen, citing Washington Post: “The U.S. Constitution designates power to regulate the ‘time, place and manner’ of elections to the states, with the proviso that Congress can step in and override those laws…. Election experts said that Trump was claiming power he does not have and that lawsuits over the measure were all but guaranteed.”
A federal judge blocked Trump’s naked-power grab but, as stated earlier, he feels emboldened (perhaps correctly, given lack of any pushback) to try whatever he wants since many guardrails have already fallen and Republicans have made little-to-no effort in stopping anti-voting crusades that redound to their benefit.
AUTHOR FOOTNOTE
Passing the mic back to Steve Benen for my Footnote, because he captures the danger here perfectly.
As part of the same tirade, [Trump] added, “WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT … by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.” Given the circumstances, that is the sentence that worries me most. Trump’s hysterics have become the background noise of our civic lives, and his lies have become about as common as the sunrise. But when [he] starts talking about the steps he’s prepared to take related to next year’s midterm elections—or perhaps more accurately, next year’s scheduled midterm elections—that’s when alarm bells start going off.
via Steve Benen, MaddowBlog
Again, don’t expect Republicans in the House and Senate (or erstwhile ones already enjoying a golden parachute, like Paul Ryan or Kevin McCarthy) to lift a finger to stop this. Ask yourselves again: If Joe Biden or Barack Obama had threatened even 1% of what Trump is doing, how would GOP and media react?
As I like reminding, Republican operatives see Executive Orders as the devil’s work when written by Democrats. But when Trump signs them, his cult views them as brilliant tools from Dear Leader.
Specifically, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio fell to the nearest fainting couch when President Biden dared to sign EOs (most of them to expand Americans’ rights, including those of conservatives) but are conspicuously silent today while Donny uses EOs (many of them prewritten by Project 2025 and Heritage Foundation) to run roughshod over norms and laws.
From Yahoo editor David Knowles: “After years of complaints that former President Barack Obama had used executive orders as an end run around a deadlocked Congress, Republicans were silent when Trump did the same thing.”
That type of naked hypocrisy simply does not exist on the liberal side of the aisle, and soulless-GOP ghouls get away with it because news media never goes back to ask them to explain it.
SOURCES
- Steve Benen for MaddowBlog
- Washington Post
- Yahoo! News
