I just say compare the things those candidates do/say to somebody like Marco Rubio. Rubio isn't making a name for himself denying the election results. Rubio doesn't have a background of peddling snake oil on TV. Rubio doesn't speak in completely incoherent word salads. People might disagree with him on policy. He might be considered too pro-life or something, but he isn't somebody people would consider crazy.
I can list at least five prominent democrats that have denied election results. Is that because of Trump, too?
Democrats mostly cry about voter suppression and how it's easy for Republicans to cast their votes. I don't think making it a major issue has helped Stacey Abrams, but the denial with Trump is different, because of January 6th. Also the fact that he lost court case after court case with his own people makes a difference.
I'm saying you have to put in context who is saying it (the POTUS is the only nationally elected politician and what they say carries more weight than anybody else in government), the factual basis of their arguments (every single judge who looked at Trump's arguments thought they were bullshit), and the fallout from the denial (January 6th). We have what, hundreds of thousands of polling locations? There's going to be irregularities in every single election. I would like to see things in a more uniform fashion and cleaned up. However, I said before last election if Trump could find one unlawful vote he would claim it was rigged if he lost. It wasn't hard for me to predict, he showed his hand before he played it.
Longtime Trump adviser Jason Miller confirmed to Steve Bannon that Donald Trump intended to announce his 2024 presidential bid next Tuesday. Said Miller: “President Trump is going to announce on Tuesday that he is running for president and it’s gonna be a very professional, very buttoned-up announcement. We did a run-through this morning with the logistics team that some great folks that are on board.” He added that Trump is “fired up.”
My point was that Democrats aren't claiming voter fraud (which is a felony) like Republicans. They are claiming structural voter suppression (which has been done legally and does not call for the overturning of an election). When somebody cries fraud, it means they want the results overturned. When somebody cries voter suppression, they want structural changes in the election system to make it easier for people of their party to vote. Fraud is the more serious accusation and is much more likely to lead to civil unrest. I'm sympathetic to both adding election integrity (something like free Voter ID's) while making it easier to vote, but I don't think it's a great idea to make either the central idea behind one's campaign. I think Stacey Abrams hurt herself after her 2018 loss. Just made her look sour.
Maybe or the generic Republican in Georgia unlike MAGA Republicans are still popular in Georgia. Also him standing upto Trump gave independents no reason to vote for Stacey. I don't think her claims hurt her in the election since the claims aren't far fetched, its the ground reality and most do understand it.