President Trump’s assault on the 2020 presidential election results in critical swing states is yet another one of his tactics to further divide Americans.
Swing states refer to states in which both Democratic or Republican candidates have a good chance of winning, and they are considered key to the outcome of the election.
In this presidential election, important swing states included Nevada, Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania, some of which helped solidify Biden’s win over Trump.
Throughout the four-day anxiety-inducing election, Trump aired his grievances with the election on Twitter, casting doubt on the validity of the election. Trump alleged that “bad things” had happened in battleground states, even though he did not have evidence to support these claims.
Not surprisingly, Trump’s influence to create doubt began before Election Day.
In the months leading up to the election, Trump insinuated that mail-in ballots were not as secure as in-person voting. Because of this, most of his supporters voted in person.
Biden, on the other hand, urged Americans to use mail-in voting because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With mail-in ballots being counted after in-person ballots in many swings states, critical states, which were initially leaning in Trump’s favor, ended up switching to favor Biden as more mail-in votes were counted. The spike was not due to electoral fraud, as Trump suggests, but rather Biden’s advice to mail in ballots paying off.
Biden also mentioned back in April, to which I agree, Trump’s undermining of mail-in ballots, along with his efforts to dismantle the United States Postal Service, would be a way to sow distrust if he loses. Unfortunately, this is not surprising coming from Trump. He has shown time and time again that not only does he lack presidential skills, but that he is more focused on creating chaos than assisting in efforts to stop it.
The comments Trump has made about electoral fraud are based on nothing more than his own ego. Even after the Federal Election Commission declared that there were no fraudulent acts committed during the election, Trump continued to cast doubt on the election. Trump’s campaign has taken this theory a step further by filing lawsuits — most of which were to stop counting votes or disqualify numerous of ballots. The majority of the Trump campaign’s lawsuits were filed in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan — states where Biden’s margin of victory was very slim or where the winner has yet to be called.
But with saying this, I have to admit that this is one of the smartest political moves one can make. Where there is doubt, there is fear, and fears are what drive people to act irrationally. If Trump instills fear in the American people, he ensures that his political influence reigns in our country long after his term. His plan is working perfectly, seeing as how Trump supporters, especially in critical swing states, flooded to their perspective state capitals to protest Biden’s presidential win. This opens the doors for the American people to doubt all forms of media and ultimately lose trust in the idea of democracy all together.
But the problem is not democracy — the problem is Trump. We elected him as president of a country founded on principles of equality, justice and unity — all principles that Trump has shown he does not believe in. Trump has proven, through this election alone, that he does not love America as much as he wants America to love him. And anyone selfish enough to encourage violence by telling his supporters to “fight back” instead of being an example of grace and humility is a person who does not deserve another four years in office. Trump, no matter how clueless he seems, knows exactly what he is doing and because of that, the American people elected Biden into office to make America great again.
This story was written by Hope Moses. She can be reached at [email protected]
