Opinion | Why Is Trump So Afraid of American Voters?

So much occurred this week. “Democrats dominating the primary main election.” “Nancy Pelosi will retire.” “A surge in air site visitors controller callouts.” Right here’s one factor you shouldn’t miss. On Tuesday, California voted on —— “Prop 50.” “Prop 50.” “Democrats suppose they are going to get 5 further seats.” However let’s not get too wrapped up within the particulars there. What’s of actual concern is President Trump’s response to this vote. Earlier than the polls even closed, the president was raging about how the election was rigged. That it was unconstitutional. “An enormous rip-off.” “It’s completely true that there’s fraud in California’s elections. It’s only a truth.” Spoiler: There’s no indication that both of these items are true. He acquired much more mad when he noticed Democrats win in Virginia, New Jersey and New York. “So Donald Trump, since I do know you’re watching, flip the amount up.” And now the president is flailing. He desires to carry on to his majority in Congress within the midterms subsequent 12 months. So he’s calling on lawmakers to take motion to outlaw mail-in ballots, to make voter-ID legal guidelines extra strict, to do extra gerrymandering. And it’s not onerous to image what else the president may take into account doing. Sending in troops into American cities round elections to intimidate voters or cowl the nation with ICE brokers who’ve already wrongfully detained virtually 200 U.S. residents this 12 months. Should you suppose any of that is far-fetched, let’s overview a couple of different occasions in American historical past the place our leaders have tried to disclaim voting rights. For Black voters within the Jim Crow South, for feminine voters earlier than girls’s suffrage and for Native People for a lot of the nation’s historical past. And simply by persevering with to forged doubt on the legitimacy of American elections, Trump is telling his followers to imagine that dropping an election means it’s stolen. We all know the place that ends. “Cease the steal!” In a democracy, a president’s job must be to get as many eligible residents as attainable to the poll field. This nation has by no means carried out that completely, however we’ve made essential progress. If Trump has his method, giant swaths of residents may lose their vote and American democracy itself would lose a lot, far more.