Clearly anticipating a terrible night for Republicans, GOP Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told a radio show Thursday that if Democrats win the White House next Tuesday, they will have cheated.
“The Democrats have just decided this election, Mark, we don't have to pay attention to any laws. We're gonna use COVID as an excuse to steal the election, and that's what they're trying to do everywhere,” Patrick told radio host Mark Davis. “If the president loses Pennsylvania or North Carolina, Mark, or Florida, they'll lose it because they stole it.”
The Texas Tribune reported on Patrick's lie-fest, and it's surely just the beginning of a deluge of GOP disinformation that everyone from Trump on down through state-level officials will be spewing, particularly if Joe Biden flips a Sunbelt state like North Carolina, Georgia, or Florida. But singling out Pennsylvania—where Biden's been polling ahead of Trump by anywhere from five to nine points for the last few months—just shows the depths of Republicans’ depravity. For instance, The Economist forecast model presently gives Biden a 93% chance of winning Pennsylvania. I hasten to add that a Biden victory in the Keystone State isn't assured, but the suggestion that him winning there somehow suggests foul play is legit laughable.
Just to be clear: No credible reports of voter fraud have emerged in a single state so far. There is, however, a lot of evidence that Republicans are shaking in their boots, particularly in Texas where the total number of early votes has already surpassed all the votes counted in 2016.
In fact, here's how worried Republicans are—forget about Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Florida; Trump's making GOTV calls in Texas!
"Texas, I need you to get out and vote," Trump says. Give it a listen—Trump is sounding a touch raspy and desperate.
Texas is the bedrock of the GOP electoral map. For decades, every Republican presidential candidate has taken its giant 38 electoral vote haul as a given without so much as a second thought. Until now.
