Stolen Election Narrative

Shortly after the presidential election in November of 2020, most Republicans, as many as 75%, were convinced that Trump would have won had there not been massive voter fraud, even though no credible evidence showed that this was the case. A few interesting things seem to have happened since:

That number has steadily eroded.  By the 24th of May, the figure was 53%.  No data exists as to what it is today, but it must be falling, especially among those with college degrees.  I draw that conclusion because the narrative gets almost no news coverage, even from the far right.

Of course, participants at Trump rallies, largely uneducated, violence-prone people who show up specifically to be whipped into a frenzy and demand that the election results be overturned, are very unlikely to give up–ever.  That’s partially because they’re not very bright people, but it’s also because their hero himself will never give up; that’s a key part of his sociopathic personality.

OK, so tens of millions of Republicans have changed their minds, but isn’t it odd how quietly they did it?  Sure, there is a distinct embarrassment that comes with being bamboozled by a conman, but isn’t it strange that no statement has been made from a prominent person to the effect that the election wasn’t stolen?  Wouldn’t we have reason to expect that someone, perhaps the Senate Minority Leader, to have publicly addressed that issue, so as to enable the GOP to move on?

And what to predict about the future?  A slow, steady attenuation?  It seems to be a function of what happens with Trump in criminal court.  It’s quite possible that if he’s indicted on an array of felonies, and the wheels of justice start to grind on him, that his popularity will be so low that the only news feature of interest will be all these trials and how long he’ll be spending in prison.

This will make the OJ Simpson trial look like a proceeding in traffic court.

Note that OJ was acquitted, but he is certainly not going to win any elections.