Republicans’ New Go-To Strategy Is Claiming Election Fraud

Larry Elder taking a page out of Trump’s playbook is a sign of shadiness to come

Michael Arceneaux
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Photo: Francine Orr/Getty Images

When a political party morphs into a cult of personality themed around an unchecked deranged buffoon who can’t accept defeat and is prone to conspiracy, no one should be surprised that those who seek to follow in his footsteps employ similar political candidacy scams.

Even before Tuesday’s gubernatorial recall election in California was held, its GOP front-runner, Larry Elder, was already both conceding the race and claiming he lost due to voter fraud. On Monday, Elder called on his supporters to use an online form to report fraud, which claimed it had “detected fraud” in the “results” of the California recall election “resulting in Governor Gavin Newsom being reinstated as governor.” The site claims the discovery of this information was via “statistical analyses used to detect fraud in elections held in 3rd-world nations (such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran).” Insert racist, xenophobic spooky music here.

The page also suggested voters may turn to the “ammo box” if they can’t trust the ballot box. Insert genuine fear of violent White folks with guns here. (And a tip box.)

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