Columns

Even though the various claims of evidence alleging a stolen 2020 election — “The Big Lie” — have been exhaustively investigated and litigated and found wanting, a May 12, 2021 PRRI Survey found that 38% of Republicans, 12% of Independents and 2% of Democrats completely agree the election was stolen, and 28% of Republicans, 15% of Independents and 2% of Democrats mostly agree.  

“The Big Lie” refers to Trump's false claim that the election was stolen from him through massive fraud, and eventually led to Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6. “A big lie (German: große Lüge; often the big lie) is a propaganda technique used for political purposes, defined as "a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the facts, especially when used as a propaganda device by a politician or official body.”  

This German expression was "coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, to describe the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.”  

That so many gullible Americans would believe The Big Lie in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and given Trump’s history of lying, is irrational. And especially since the Republican Party’s policies are generally unpopular. If Republicans came clean about those policies, they would rarely win free and fair elections. Republicans want to turn back to the Jim Crow era "by keeping Black and brown and other members of the Democratic Party’s base from voting." 

Trump and his sycophants are intent on keeping “The Big Lie” in the public eye as long as possible to undermine the integrity of future elections and give impetus to state voter suppression laws. In furtherance thereof, the third audit (or "fraudit" as some have called it) is now being conducted in Maricopa County, Arizona, six months after the election by the Cyber Ninjas, a company hired by the Republican-controlled Arizona state Senate, have no experience in conducting election audits. (The name “Cyber Ninjas” itself doesn’t inspire much confidence.) Indications are that other Republican-controlled states will continue this farce unless the U.S. Department of Justice steps in to end this likely violation of federal election laws. 

As Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."