Even after his ban from Twitter, former President Donald Trump has continued to maintain the delusion that the 2020 election was somehow "stolen" from him by Democrats engaging in widespread election fraud. Even after dozens of failed court cases, bumbling press conferences, and sham hearings, Trump continues to peddle the lie that American democracy is completely illegitimate.
Trump has broadcast these fantasies from presidential podiums, national television networks, and widely-watched news shows, in a smear campaign that culminated in a deadly failed insurrection against the United States Capitol. As a result of the siege, Trump was banned from a host of social media accounts for inciting violence.
But, this week, that didn't stop the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) from publishing a letter to the editor written by Trump, where he once again continued to falsely claim that he was the legitimate winner of the 2020 election.
Trump wrote the letter in response to a WSJ report that correctly stated Trump lost the bellwether state of Pennsylvania by nearly 100,000 votes.
These basic facts were too incendiary for Trump, who wrote:
"Well actually, the election was rigged, which you, unfortunately, still haven't figured out. Here are just a few examples of how determinative the voter fraud in Pennsylvania was."
Trump went on to list his usual nonsense regarding the Commonwealth's election protocols, but one bullet point laid partial blame on social media titan Facebook and Trump's own Attorney General, Bill Barr.
Trump said:
"Attorney General Bill Barr ordered U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain to stand down and not investigate election irregularities. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook poured over $17 million to interfere in the Pennsylvania election, including $5.5 million on "ballot processing equipment" in Philadelphia and $552,000 for drop boxes where the voting pattern was not possible."
Though largely loyal to Trump in his use of the Justice Department for political purposes, former Attorney General Barr directly refuted the former President's lies that election fraud occurred on such a massive scale to change the results of the 2020 election.
Nevertheless, Trump continues to peddle this dangerous lie, even from the supposedly prestigious pages of the Wall Street Journal.
People aren't having it.
The Wall Street Journal's decision to publish the screed hasn't done any favors for the paper's credibility either.
The damage has been done.
