Donald Trump is going to lose this election, and he's going to lose ugly. And if he has his way, violently. He was back in Pennsylvania Monday, more unhinged than ever, if there's such a thing. But what he was very, very clear about was the whistle dogs, cats, birds, fish and racist humans could all here. Those "other communities" are going to try to steal the election.
"So important that you get out and vote. So important that you watch other communities, because we don't want this election stolen from us," Trump said in Ambridge, Pa., northwest of Pittsburgh. "We don't want this election stolen from us. We do not want this election stolen." […]
Later, he spoke from Wilkes-Barre. […]
"And we have to make sure we're protected. We have to make sure the people of Philadelphia are protected that the vote counts are 100 percent. Everybody wants that, but I hear these horror shows. I hear these horror shows and we have to make sure that this election is not stolen from us and is not taken away from us. And everybody knows what I'm talking about."
Those "other communities" are basically Philadelphia, and communities that are predominantly black. Because, you see, Ambridge and Wilkes-Barre are predominantly—about 75 percent—white. And the Trump rally attendance is about 99 percent white. So when he says "other," he's being very, very clear. By the way, "Republican inspector of elections in Philadelphia debunked Sean Hannity on the subject of voter fraud in the city when the Fox News personality raised it earlier this year." But nothing is ever debunked with Trump, and he wants his forces to go to Philadelphia and keep those people out of the polls. Which our own Adam Bonin points out is illegal in the state of Pennsylvania.
It's a continuation of Trump's incendiary rhetoric about how the election is rigged, how "they're letting people pour into the country so they can go and vote." He's been recruiting what he calls "poll watchers" for weeks, people he's getting riled up to get out and stop "those" "other" voters. Most of his calls for voter suppression have been in Pennsylvania, but his supporters across the country hear that, and are likely to act.
This comes with the first presidential election in five decades without the protections of the Voting Rights Act. That means it comes without the protection of hundreds of poll observers and monitors trained and authorized to monitor polling places by the federal government.
The air might come entirely out of Trump's balloon even with the most rabid of his current crowd, and this might come to nothing. Or it could be even more ugly and violent than Trump's rallies. We have to be prepared.
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