How Trump stole
the 2020 U.S. elections
A new book by Gregory Palast explores the possibilities
By Byron Toben
In my last three articles, borrowing Queen Elizabeth’s phrase for her troubled 1992 year as her annus horribilis, I described 2020 as a similar but worse year for Donald Trump – sort of a “You think that YOU got problems?
This led to my conclusion that, normally, all these omens and portents would lead to a 62% landslide victory for Joe Biden, eclipsing Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 record of 61.1%.
But these ain’t normal times my friend.
The best explanation, wherein voter suppression is raised to a greater level of voter obliteration, is in Gregory Palast’s new book, How Trump Stole 2020: The Search For America’s Vanished Voters.
I first came across Mr. Palast in the aftermath of the 2000 USA elections held in November 1999. All the TV stations had projected Al Gore the victor by midnight. I was startled upon waking at 7 am to find that George W. Bush had been declared the winner, with 272 electoral votes, only 2 votes over the minimum.
Contestation by the Democrats resulted in a Supreme Court case questioning Florida state interpretation laws, the famous “hanging chads” and voter misidentification, dragging on until late December when Mr. Gore reluctantly conceded so that Mr. Bush’s inauguration could proceed in January 2000.
Greg Palast, who has since become the leading investigative reporter in the world specializing in voter fraud, published an analysis of those events which would lead to the conclusion that the election was stolen. (Indeed, Bush had earlier joked that his brother, Jeb Bush, would assure that “W” would not lose in Florida.)
Palast, who had also pointed out bias in the then-new voting machines, moved to England where he wrote for the BBC and the Manchester Guardian.
He is now back in California, writing for Rolling Stone and The Guardian USA. A colourful character with film noir fedora and trench coat, he also has a good sense of humour albeit covering a serious subject. The book apparently deals with the elimination of convenient voting stations, the campaign by Trump to eliminate mail votes and modern versions of Jim Crow obstacles, which others have also pointed out. He is unique, I believe, in fearing that many mail votes may be declared invalid or thrown out wholesale without even being examined. He gives examples and documentation to support these fears.
I remember Trump himself – his own worst enemy – blurting out that if too many people vote, there is no way he can win. I can’t wait to read this important book!
Two other annus horribilis developments
New anti-Trump series of videos and podcasts
In addition to noted Republicans posting The Lincoln Project and the RVAT videos, a new and more frequent publisher is Meidas Touch.
This title seems to be a parody of Trump’s 2011 collaboration with Robert Kiyosaki – The Midas Touch.
Meidas Touch was created last March by the three progressive Meiselas brothers: Ben (who had represented Colin Kaepernick), Brett (a technician on the Ellen DeGeneres show) and Jordan (an advertising and marketing expert). They have a bevy of short videos and podcasts, many using Trump’s own words against himself.
Ghislaine Maxwell – Image: Ghislaine Maxwell / CC BY-SA
Ghislaine Maxwell to tell all
Ms. Maxwell, arrested July 2 on charges related to her having procured young girls as sex providers for her boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, promises full cooperation with the FBI. Besides the earlier films of Trump cavorting with the since suicided Epstein, it will be interesting to see what she may say about Epstein’s many payments to Russian payees and withdrawals from the Deutsche Bank, the same one used by Trump to allegedly launder dirty money.
What’s coming next?
What will Trump do if he loses?
What will the Democrats do if they lose?
Can there be violence?
Will the military intervene?
Viewers are invited to submit their predictions by posting a comment below.
Feature image: Nicolas Raymond via StockPholio.net
Read more articles from Byron Toben
Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.
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