Apparently, Republicans are a teensy bit worried that all this talk of rigged election will result in some of their own voters not bothering to go to the polls:
The anger over the 2020 vote even has some election deniers questioning whether voting is worthwhile.
“Unless we fix what went down — and I voted ever since I was able to vote — I’m pretty well done,” Gary Taylor, 65, of Pinckney, said at the Michigan rally. “I mean, what’s the point? I think the whole damn thing is corrupt.”
That sentiment could make a difference in Republicans winning or losing races. In Georgia’s Senate runoff elections in January 2021, constant fraud claims by Trump and his allies were seen to have played a role in dampening GOP turnout enough to have allowed for one — if not both — Democratic victories.
In a virtual town hall late last year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told supporters, “We have to vote.”
“There’s been some big negative voices that have been saying terrible things,” she said. “They’ve been telling people not to vote in the next election. And I think that is the biggest lie. If anyone is telling you not to vote, they’re helping the enemy.”
In Tucson, Sherrylyn Young, a candidate for the state Senate who attended the question-and-answer session with Bennett, said even a small number of Republicans giving up on elections is “a big concern.”
“I think there are a lot of people who are saying it’s rigged and there’s no point in even going out and voting. I hope that doesn’t happen,” she said. It might be “enough to swing an election when it comes right down to it.”
Polling suggests that Trump followers are very excited to vote so I’m not sure this is a real concern. In fact, I think the bigger turnout worry for them is if the cult comes out in the primaries in huge numbers and they nominate Trumpy weirdos — and turn off the Independents they need in the general. And there’s a pretty good chance that’s what they’re going to do.
The “rigged” election rhetoric isn’t there to dissuade Republicans from voting. It’s to challenge ( bitch, whine and try to punish the election officials) any election they lose. Conservatives always worked overtime to persuade their voters that they are the majority even when it’s clear they are not. Now they are literally saying that it’s impossible for them to lose elections.