Why Trump is demanding a 2020 election audit — in Texas

Trump in Texas
(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
Joel Mathis, The Week US

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.