By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics
Whether it was continued sour grapes over his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden, or a politicization of this year’s midterm elections and the proposed federal legislation requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, President Trump’s primetime speech last night was nonsense.
The networks seemed to agree. ABC, NBC and CNN declined to give the speech their airwaves, relegating it to their streaming platforms, while CBS ran a special report and Sinclair-owned affiliates carried it live anyway. It could be argued that carrying a sitting president’s speech when he addresses the nation is in itself newsworthy; this was an exception to the rule.
Trump’s claims on the 2020 election are not news. His campaign and its allies filed more than 60 lawsuits across nine states and the District of Columbia, and lost virtually all of them — tossed for lack of evidence, lack of standing, and in some 30 cases thrown out on the merits, more than a few by judges Trump appointed himself.
So when the President stood before the country complaining once more about voter fraud, the real question wasn’t whether the claims were true. The courts settled that five years ago. The question is why he needs them to be true again, with the midterms less than four months away.
No election is perfect, but by and large, American elections are among the fairest in the world. And this cuts across party lines. Our constitution gave the states the job of running elections, and that speaks well of our country as a democratic republic rather than a majority-rule democracy.
That said, if we can put a man on the moon, California should be able to tabulate its vote counts within a week. Here in Los Angeles County — the largest voting jurisdiction in America, with more than five million registered voters — final results routinely take the better part of a month, and close races hang in limbo for weeks. That’s not fraud. But every day the count drags on is a day the conspiracy peddlers get for free.
Yes, there is some fraud and misuse in elections, and when it’s found, it should be dealt with case by case. But some level of trust in elections run by and for the American people must be given.
I tuned in to Trump’s speech, hoping to hear about his plans for Iran or for strengthening the economy. What I heard was pure political balderdash.
I trust Americans on both sides of the aisle see through it as I did.
