DEEP DIVE: Experts from across the political spectrum are terrified of a disputed November election. With Trump& #39;s norm-breaking behavior, plus the unprecedented challenges of pandemic-era voting, the circumstances are ripe for a post-election nightmare. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/20/politics/disputed-election-crisis-trump/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/2...
Exhibit A: Trump thinks mail-in voting hurts his re-election has fought hard to restrict it. But he& #39;s been unsuccessful, in blue & red states. Having lost this battle, Trump could blame mail-in voting if he loses. That would fit with 8 years of precedent. We have the paper trail.
November 2012: Trump backed Romney. On Election Day, Trump spread baseless conspiracy theories about vote-rigging. After Romney lost, Trump called the election a "sham" and literally said, "We should march on Washington and stop this travesty." He called for a popular revolt.
February 2016: Cruz won the Iowa caucuses with ~28%. Trump finished in 2nd place with ~24%. In the coming days, Trump said Cruz "stole" the election and committed "fraud." He literally said "the State of Iowa should disqualify Ted Cruz" and that his votes should be "nullified."
November 2016: Historians said this was the most shocking. They never saw this before. Trump wouldn& #39;t commit to accepting the results of the election. Then, after he won, he claimed there was massive fraud. Millions of illegal votes. It was a lie to explain his popular vote loss.
November 2018: This perhaps is the most foreboding for this year. FL Senate, Scott (R) vs. Nelson (D). Scott& #39;s 38K election day lead narrowed as more votes were counted. Trump claimed "fraud" and literally said Florida "must go with Election Night" results. Scott won anyway.