The last decade has taught us that “election fraud” takes many forms besides just stuffing ballot boxes and forging mail-in ballots. President Trump makes no secret that he’s pushing red states to redistrict prior to the 2026 congressional elections because he’s afraid that otherwise he’ll lose the support of his motely troupe of MAGA Republican lackies, a.k.a. no more “Big Beautiful Bills” for him, let alone the threat of impeachment. Despite all his blustering and bravado (how many wars has he stopped as of this week?), numerous polls show his popularity at an all-time low. The president can delight in sophomoric AI-produced videos dumping excrement on “radical left” protestors, but it’s not going to win favor with anyone except the basest of his base, not when he’s failed to bring down the cost of living, his number one campaign promise.
Because he’s afraid of losing his pathetically sycophantic Republican Congress to a “blue wave” in 2026, Trump is trying to capture as many House and Senate seats as possible. And gerrymandered redistricting is merely one of the many cards he has up his sleeve. The Republicans are experts at spreading the myth of widespread illegal voting, but they’re the ones with a history of systematically disenfranchising nonwhite voters—via voter purges, strict ID requirements, cutting voting hours, you name it. And that assumes Trump doesn’t deploy the military to Democrat-majority cities to take control of the polling places and the ballot boxes.
Trump’s Fantasy of Dumping Excrement on “No Kings” Protestors Shows His Respect for the American People.
We should anticipate that in 2026 the RNC will once again invest millions deploying an army of thousands of lawyers and volunteers to lord over the entire process—early voting, election day, and any potential recounts. And wherever they lose, Republicans are likely to contest the results by both legal and extra-legal means, including going all the way to the Republican-stacked Supreme Court (which is currently in the process of gutting the 1965 Voting Rights Act). As was the case in 2020, 2026 election “night” could go on for days or even weeks. And based on his recent track record, Republican House Speaker Johnson might refuse to swear in Democratic members after they’re elected!
Trump Will Do Anything to Hold onto Power and Keep His Grift Machine Going.
Trump has “joked” about serving an unprecedented third term as president and expressed admiration for authoritarian leaders who circumvent democracy to stay in power. Even more ominously, based on his behavior following his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden, he isn’t likely to have any qualms about brazenly defying the 2028 election results should they not go his way. In his inaugural address, he claimed that when a gunman tried to shoot him, he “was saved by God to make America great again,” as if an echo of the divine right of kings. It remains to be seen if that is the case, but as soon as Trump is out of office, not only will his many grifts come to an end, he’ll once again be subject to prosecution.
In a recent interview, Steve Bannon, Trump’s long-time MAGA ally, called Trump “a vehicle for divine providence (well maybe, assuming you’re a crypto or tech billionaire) and claimed the president’s supporters had “a plan” to circumvent the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone serving as president more than twice, regardless of whether the terms are consecutive. “Trump is going to be president in ’28, and people ought to just get accommodated with that,” he said. One Republican congressman even suggested that if ever there was a time to ignore the 22nd Amendment this was it. Presumably said congressman is either a billionaire or hasn’t seen Trump’s favorability ratings lately.