Why Trump is demanding a 2020 election audit — in Texas
The Arizona audit of the 2020 presidential election has been leaked, and Joe Biden is still the president. In fact, a draft report of the months-long review by Cyber Ninjas shows that Biden won Maricopa County over Donald Trump by a slightly larger margin than the county's official results.
That's the good news. The bad news? These results won't put a stop to Trump's efforts to relitigate and recount the election. The audit was never intended to ferret out new and surprising truths — it was about sowing enough doubt and suspicion among the American public to make his false claim to the presidency seem faintly plausible. The real news this week is not about the Arizona results, but Trump's bizarre demand for an Arizona-style audit in Texas.
Yes, Trump won the Lone Star State and its electoral votes — albeit by a mere 5.5 percentage points. Even if it somehow would turn out he won Texas by a larger margin than previously reported, it wouldn't make a difference: That wouldn't give him more electoral votes, after all. No matter. "Texans know voting fraud occurred in some of their counties," Trump wrote this week in a public letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, a fellow Republican. "Let's get to the bottom of the 2020 presidential election scam!" On Thursday night, Texas capitulated to the former president's demands, announcing it has begun re-evaluating election results in the state's four largest counties.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The only way Trump's effort in Texas makes sense is to understand that it can't possibly be intended to make sense. The former president is an agent of chaos, and he probably doesn't mind keeping himself in the headlines. But confusion is also Trump's ally. The more he can make people doubt the 2020 results — even in places he won handily — the more he can make the case that the whole system is irredeemably corrupt, and can only be brought to heel by one man: himself.
We shouldn't mistake Trump's persistence for sincere-but-misguided belief. Just this week, journalists revealed that his team knew its allegations of election fraud were baseless almost from the beginning. They're still baseless, but the result is that nearly a year after Biden won the presidency, we're still enduring a slow-motion constitutional crisis. If you want a picture of the future, imagine an unending series of 2020 election audits — forever.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 3, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - presidential pitching, wavering convictions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Why Man United finally lost patience with ten Hag
Talking Point After another loss United sacked ten Hag in hopes of success in the Champion's League
By The Week UK Published
-
Who are the markets backing in the US election?
Talking Point Speculators are piling in on the Trump trade. A Harris victory would come as a surprise
By The Week UK Published
-
Who are the markets backing in the US election?
Talking Point Speculators are piling in on the Trump trade. A Harris victory would come as a surprise
By The Week UK Published
-
What might a Trump victory mean for the global economy?
Today's Big Question A second term in office for the 'America First' administration would send shockwaves far beyond the United States' shores
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Women take center stage in campaign finale
Speed Read Harris and Trump are trading gender attacks in the final days before the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US election: who the billionaires are backing
The Explainer More have endorsed Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, but among the 'ultra-rich' the split is more even
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
How GOP election denial thrives in 2024
In the Spotlight Cleta Mitchell aided Donald Trump's efforts in 2020. She's back.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Life in the post-truth era
Opinion The mainstream media can't hold back a tsunami of misinformation
By Theunis Bates Published
-
'Shale is crucial to the US economy'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Donald Trump sees himself as 'protector' of Israel
The Explainer What does that mean for the war in Gaza?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published