[I]n a monologue Monday morning on his “War Room” radio show, [Steve] Bannon railed against Maricopa County, describing the Election Day glitches as “an active disenfranchisement of voters in Arizona on the world stage.” Later Monday, he said, “We have to stop the certification.”
(Emphasis mine.)
This followed thirty(!) paragraphs of otherwise tepid analysis with speculations duly provided by Lake’s spokespersons and proxies. The above, to me, was the most telling piece in the entire article.
Various advisers have counseled Lake not to “storm the castle,” but that was tempered by the immediate follow-up that she tends to take her own counsel.
Several heavies have weighed in on her options, including Donald Trump. (Of course.)
That Bannon is speaking these words to his audience, to me, is the leading indicator as to the likeliest road we have ahead of us. It sounds as though we may need to prepare for the newest iteration of Stop the Steal.
People around Lake have told her it would not be in her best interest to claim the election was stolen. They have also warned of possible harm to Arizona, and the country more broadly, if the state became home to a resurgent “Stop the Steal” movement. Others have cautioned against disrupting the ongoing count and decided that there is little the campaign can meaningfully do to change the outcome.
However, I think that’s exactly what Trump wants. If anything, he’s in desperate need of a state he can call “home country.” He thought he had that with Florida, but DeSantis is stealing his thunder.
