Many have noticed Trump's supporters seem much less engaged in elections this year. NBC News' Ben Collins broke down why he thinks that is on Twitter, and it makes a whole lot of sense.
Partially to blame is Trump's nonstop rhetoric about rigged elections—which has nearly completely eroded confidence in the election system among his followers.
They're not engaged because they've been led to believe the hated Democrats will just rig the next election too.
\u201cA lot of users in pro-Trump forums have fundamentally given up on voting.\n\nShockingly, constantly saying every election bigger than a headcount is rigged has had a deleterious effect on voter turnout in national races.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
Collins noted many of them seemed to have really narrowed their focus to hyper-local races and governance, like school boards.
These smaller local situations allow them to exert direct control through harassment, and directly witness the outcomes of their efforts.
\u201cThe focus of Trump's base now is at the hyper-local level.\n\nThey feel like they can sway a five-person school board, then ban books or curricula once they have power.\n\nThat's the kind of power they're currently interested in\u2014and you can get it through harassment and intimidation.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
The constant rhetoric around rigged elections opened up Trump supporters to believe any vote that doesn't go their way must have been tampered with, especially if they don't witness the voting like they can in a school board or city council meeting.
\u201cFor example, the top post in the last hour on The Donald.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
Many Twitter users agreed with Collins.
They were completely unsurprised the insistence our democratic process is being subverted led to a drop in engagement in that process.
\u201c@oneunderscore__ All the stolen/rigged election talk starting to backfire.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
\u201c@oneunderscore__ Shocking, shocking, I say, that creating disillusionment with the election process has people participating in significant lower numbers.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
\u201c@reportbywilson @1otterlaughing @oneunderscore__ Color me not surprised...\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
Some hoped this lack of engagement would continue through November.
\u201c@oneunderscore__ Fingers crossed, they stay that way through November and beyond. GOP voters are notorious for voting in every election. Maybe since they caught the Roe v Wade tiger, they're not quite as engaged? It seems a lot of voting is oppositional.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
\u201c@oneunderscore__ Pleasant news, but don't bet on it until it materializes in November.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
\u201c@oneunderscore__\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
Many pointed out the significant negative effect this focus on local government is having on the people in those locales, even if it hasn't had as much of an effect nationally—yet.
\u201c@oneunderscore__ There's also a deep-money push for things like that. The orgs at the root of anti-CRT/Book banning are the school voucher types like DeVos. The drive is "the public schools are full of CRT and pornography...therefore private schools."\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
\u201c@oneunderscore__ And which has a MASSIVE immediately deleterious impact on the day-to-day of an unbelievable number of people.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
\u201c@oneunderscore__ We are seeing that across Virginia. It also gives them an opportunity to get on Fox News if they manage to upset a civil servant who's just trying to improve their community\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
\u201c@oneunderscore__ The problem is those local races are developing grounds for higher offices. If they are crowding those races, long term they'll be state reps, congressmen, and eventually Senators.\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
\u201c@oneunderscore__ Everything is local. It\u2019s who will control the certifications of elections. \n\nhttps://t.co/XTzUrAw5dE\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
A few pointed out one of the biggest flaws in the argument Democrats are rigging elections.
Republicans are still getting elected.
A lot.
\u201c@j_archer_12 @oneunderscore__ Right do you think all those republicans down ballot would win?\u201d— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1661314334
Unfortunately, the only way to find out what kind of overall effect this will ultimately have on broader elections is to wait and see.
We'll find out in November.
