Current Events > Why Republican voters say there's 'no way in hell' Trump lost

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-fraud-insight/why-republican-voters-say-theres-no-way-in-hell-trump-lost-idUSKBN2801D4

Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a masters degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.

Fryar didnt much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. presidents 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.

Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a reactionary force of about three dozen - including Fryar and his son, Caleb - who conduct firearms training.

Nothing will convince Fryar and many others here in Sundown - including the towns mayor, another Patriots member - that Democrat Joe Biden won the Nov. 3 presidential election fairly. They believe Trumps stream of election-fraud allegations and say theyre preparing for the possibility of a civil war with the American political left.

If President Trump comes out and says: Guys, I have irrefutable proof of fraud, the courts wont listen, and Im now calling on Americans to take up arms, we would go, said Fryar, wearing a button-down shirt, pressed slacks and a paisley tie during a recent interview at his office.

The unshakable trust in Trump in this town of about 1,400 residents reflects a national phenomenon among many Republicans, despite the absence of evidence in a barrage of post-election lawsuits by the president and his allies. About half of Republicans polled by Reuters/Ipsos said Trump rightfully won the election but had it stolen from him in systemic fraud favoring Biden, according to a survey conducted between Nov. 13 and 17. Just 29% of Republicans said Biden rightfully won.
...
In Reuters interviews with 50 Trump voters, all said they believed the election was rigged or in some way illegitimate. Of those, 20 said they would consider accepting Biden as their president, but only in light of proof that the election was conducted fairly. Most repeated debunked conspiracy theories espoused by Trump, Republican officials and conservative media claiming that millions of votes were dishonestly switched to Biden in key states by biased poll workers and hacked voting machines.

Many voters interviewed by Reuters said they formed their opinions by watching emergent right-wing media outlets such as Newsmax and One American News Network that have amplified Trumps fraud claims. Some have boycotted Fox News out of anger that the network called Biden the election winner and that some of its news anchors - in contrast to its opinion show stars - have been skeptical of Trumps fraud allegations.

I just sent Fox News an email, Fryar said, telling the network: Youre the only news Ive watched for the last six years, but I will not watch you anymore.

The widespread rejection of the election result among Republicans reflects a new and dangerous dynamic in American politics: the normalization of false and increasingly extreme conspiracy theories among tens of millions of mainstream voters, according to government scholars, analysts and some lawmakers on both sides of the political divide. The trend has deeply troubling long-term implications for American political and civic institutions, said Paul Light, a veteran political scientist at New York University (NYU).

This is dystopian, Light said. America could fracture.

Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is among the few party members to publicly recognize Bidens victory. He called his Republican colleagues reluctance to reject Trumps conspiracies a failure of political courage that threatens to undermine American democracy for years. If citizens lose faith in election integrity, that could lead to really bad things, including violence and social unrest, he said in an interview.

David Gergen - an adviser to four previous U.S. presidents, two Democrats and two Republicans - said Trump is trying to kneecap the Biden administration before it takes power, noting this is the first time a sitting American president has tried to overthrow an election result.

It may not be the last time. Many Republicans see attacks on election integrity as a winning issue for future campaigns - including the next presidential race, according to one Republican operative close to the Trump campaign. The party, the person said, is setting up a push for far more stringent oversight on voting procedures in 2024, when the partys nominee will likely be Trump or his anointed successor.
...
Raymond Fontaine, a hardware store owner in Oakville, Connecticut, said Bidens vote total - the highest of any presidential candidate in history - makes no sense because the 78-year-old Democrat made relatively few campaign appearances and seemed to be in mental decline.

You are going to tell me 77 million Americans voted for him? There is just no way, said Fontaine, 50.

The latest popular vote total for Biden has grown to about 79 million, compared to some 73 million for Trump.

Like many Trump supporters interviewed by Reuters, Fontaine was deeply suspicious of computerized voting machines. Trump and his allies have alleged, without producing evidence, a grand conspiracy to manipulate votes through the software used in many battleground states.

In Grant County, West Virginia - a mountainous region where more than 88% of voters backed the president - trust in Trump runs deep. Janet Hedrick, co-owner of the Smoke Hole Caverns log cabin resort in the small town of Cabins, said she would never accept Biden as a legitimate president.

Theres millions and millions of Trump votes that were just thrown out, said Hedrick, 70, a retired teacher and librarian. That computer was throwing them out.

At the Sunset Restaurant in Moorefield, West Virginia - a diner featuring omelettes, hotcakes and waitresses who remember your order - a mention of the election sparked a spirited discussion at one table. Gene See, a retired highway construction inspector, and Bob Hyson, a semi-retired insurance sales manager, said Trump had been cheated, that Biden had dementia and that Democrats planned all along to quickly replace Biden with his more liberal running mate for vice president, Kamala Harris.

I think if they ever get to the bottom of it, they will find massive fraud, said another of the diners, Larry Kessel, a 67-year-old farmer.

Kessels wife, Jane, patted him on the arm, trying to calm him, as he grew agitated while railing against anti-Trump media bias.

Trumps rage against the media has lately included rants against Fox News. He has pushed his supporters towards more right-wing outlets such as Newsmax and One America News Network, which have championed the presidents fraud claims.

Rory Wells, 51, a New Jersey lawyer who attended a pro-Trump stop the steal election protest in Trenton last week, said he now watches Newsmax because Fox isnt sufficiently conservative.

I like that I get to hear from Rudy Giuliani and others who are not immediately discounted as being crazy, he said of Trumps lead election lawyer.
...
In Sundown, Texas, Mayor Jonathan Strickland said theres no way in hell Biden won fairly. The only way hell believe it, he said, is if Trump himself says so.

Trump is the only one weve been able to trust for the last four years, said Strickland, an oilfield production engineer. As far as the civil war goes, I dont think its off the table.

---

Domestic terrorists

Lol

---

Has 3 degrees yet is still a fucking idiot.
---

I just skimmed your post, but it seems they didn't answer the question "why?"

---

Republican voters

LightningAce11 posted...

Has 3 degrees yet is still a fucking idiot.

---

LightningAce11 posted...

Has 3 degrees yet is still a fucking idiot.

I like that I get to hear from Rudy Giuliani and others who are not immediately discounted as being crazy, he said

---

LightningAce11 posted...

Has 3 degrees yet is still a fucking idiot.

being a chiropractor more than cancels out the 3 degrees though

---

DoctorPiranha3 posted...

Republican voters

They're not clowns, they're a forming rebel faction with many willing to take up arms. And because our country has such a long lame duck period before even having the final step of electoral votes being cast, it basically ensures plenty of time for these people to prepare for a war.

---

I'll never understand this blind loyalty. Trump "tells it like it is" and claims to be against abortion, so Republicans are willing to go to war for him?

---

jpenny2 posted...

I'll never understand this blind loyalty. Trump "tells it like it is" and claims to be against abortion, so Republicans are willing to go to war for him?

Critical thinking is not exactly their forte.

---

It's honestly insane the cult-like following Trump has. I don't even understand it. Have these people even benefited in any way through his time in office that they wouldn't have from a different Republican or even Democrat?

There's no rational reasoning besides the us vs them tribalism that Trump has been the first to disgustingly exploit.

And shame on the Republican party for putting our democracy and the whole republic at risk by not taking a stand against Trump.

---

doomcrusader posted...

It's honestly insane the cult-like following Trump has. I don't even understand it. Have these people even benefited in any way through his time in office that they wouldn't have from a different Republican or even Democrat?

There's no rational reasoning besides the us vs them tribalism that Trump has been the first to disgustingly exploit.

And shame on the Republican party for putting our democracy and the whole republic at risk by not taking a stand against Trump.

Trump is a Hitler wannabe, but 1000x stupider. Which makes sense, because Americans are stupid.

Tldr

---

gunplagirl posted...

They're not clowns, they're a forming rebel faction with many willing to take up arms. And because our country has such a long lame duck period before even having the final step of electoral votes being cast, it basically ensures plenty of time for these people to prepare for a war.

So clowns.

---

LightningAce11 posted...

Has 3 degrees yet is still a fucking idiot.

He's a chiropractor. Cut him some slack. So what he flunked out of medical college 5 times?

---

Antifar posted...

This is dystopian, Light said. America could fracture.

All too fitting if it is a reality TV star that causes America to fall apart.

---

gunplagirl posted...

They're not clowns, they're a forming rebel faction with many willing to take up arms. And because our country has such a long lame duck period before even having the final step of electoral votes being cast, it basically ensures plenty of time for these people to prepare for a war.

And they can try all they want but as soon as they actually fire shots, they'll get gunned down for being treasonous fucking scum to the United States.

---

Short answer: cuz they're idiots.
---

You can call these people whatever you want, but literally millions of them are so divorced from reality that it's impossible to talk to them rationally. This is where America is at. Dems want to work with Republicans and make compromises and heal the country (literally), but one third of America is in a cult.

---

lmao is the town actually called Sundown

---

The town is literally called Sundown
---

gunplagirl posted...

They're not clowns, they're a forming rebel faction with many willing to take up arms. And because our country has such a long lame duck period before even having the final step of electoral votes being cast, it basically ensures plenty of time for these people to prepare for a war.

You're not wrong, but they're still clown ass mother fuckers. Literally thinking they can overthrow the government and go head to head with the military. Like, we've all seen what the average Trump supporter looks like, they aren't winning any civil war and they are too pussy to even try and start it, they're all talk and bravado. These people are constantly deepthroating cops and soldiers, but are going to ambush and fight them with their dad bods and their XXL Fleet Farm "tactical" gear?

Yeah ok *jerkoff motion*

---

It's pretty fucked that Fox News, infamous for being ultra right wing and skewing the truth, is too "liberal" for these people because it won't tell them what they want to hear.

It's honestly scary to see people migrating to OAN and Newsmax. They're already ready for war, and they're moving to more extreme and blatantly false news sources.

---

I actually work with someone who espouses all of these theories. Apparently Trump won 410 electoral votes and the Republicans took the house. As well, Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington, lost to his Republican opponent. It's all gonna be revealed soon guys.

---

Antifar posted...

Just 29% of Republicans said Biden rightfully won.

So 29% of Republicans don't need to be removed from the country.

---

Ooooooranges posted...

I actually work with someone who espouses all of these theories. Apparently Trump won 410 electoral votes and the Republicans took the house. As well, Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington, lost to his Republican opponent. It's all gonna be revealed soon guys.

does he also believe that California went red while Colorado went blue?

---

I mean, he lost but he sure gave sleepy joe a run for his money.

LightningAce11 posted...

Has 3 degrees yet is still a fucking idiot.

---

LightningAce11 posted...

Has 3 degrees yet is still a fucking idiot.

---

It will always boggle my mind how Trump has managed to amass such a cult following even among seasoned Republicans that they would even trigger a Civil War for a man who couldn't give two shits about them.

---

Yeah this is why I didn't celebrate a Biden win. This country is still filled with a bunch of crazy people who will believe anything Trump says. There is no easy fix for that. The country is completely broken.

---

TommyG663513 posted...

Yeah this is why I didn't celebrate a Biden win. This country is still filled with a bunch of crazy people who will believe anything Trump says. There is no easy fix for that. The country is completely broken.

It isn't completely broken.

Just, one side of the political spectrum in the country is on the verge of fracturing.

If the right eats itself and splits into separate factions that refuse to vote for one unified party, then Dems will sweep future elections.

---

jpenny2 posted...

I'll never understand this blind loyalty. Trump "tells it like it is" and claims to be against abortion, so Republicans are willing to go to war for him?

That's because that's what they say but they're not really being honest with themselves about why they really feel for him.

They see the left pushing for things like diversity in hiring and representation and they see it as an attack on the power consolidated by white people.

They see primarily left driven pushes to "replace" merry Christmas with happy holidays and see it as an attack on christianity.

Immigration? That's just the left trying to devalue what they were given as their exclusive birthright: citizenship.

They see increased support for gay marriage, and nonbinary sexual identity and see it as an attack on heteronormative relationships.

They are envisioning that a world run by leftists is a world where they are treated the way they have treated others for centuries.

So when you ask yourself how come (x) group supports the GOP when (contradictory beliefs), it's because the penis flattening meme is real to them and supporting the most far right politicians they can is the only way to prevent it.

But they'll never admit that to you because they haven't even admitted it to themselves.

So instead they shout All Lives Matter on the sidewalk not understanding why they're doing it. Not because they believe all lives matter, but because Black Lives mattering causes them to lose exclusive privilege they had before.

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

They see increased support for gay marriage, and nonbinary sexual identity and see it as an attack on heteronormative relationships.

They more see it as a moral degradation of America and they feel a mandate from God to fight against it.


---

America is fucked

doomcrusader posted...

It's honestly insane the cult-like following Trump has. I don't even understand it. Have these people even benefited in any way through his time in office that they wouldn't have from a different Republican or even Democrat?

There's no rational reasoning besides the us vs them tribalism that Trump has been the first to disgustingly exploit.

And shame on the Republican party for putting our democracy and the whole republic at risk by not taking a stand against Trump.

This kind of shit is why I roll my eyes when people mock the left for "eating itself". It shouldn't be a badge of honor that you have would literally die for someone just because they are a high-ranking official that belongs to the 1 of 2 parties that is closer to your beliefs.

That's fucking cult-like behavior. North Korean citizens would look down on these people. At least they only pretend to have that loyalty out of fear. These braindead assholes are choosing to pledge their lives to the host of The Apprentice, just because the last thing out of his mouth was a lie he told that appealed to them.

---

wackyteen posted...

They more see it as a moral degradation of America and they feel a mandate from God to fight against it.

If they cared even a shred about moral degradation they wouldn't vote for a guy who has been divorced twice, curses like a sailor, cheats on his wife with porn stars, barges in on 14 year old girls while they're naked, and has 20-something sexual assault allegations.

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

If they cared even a shred about moral degradation they wouldn't vote for a guy who has been divorced twice, curses like a sailor, cheats on his wife with porn stars, barges in on 14 year old girls while they're naked, and has 20-something sexual assault allegations.

and paid for multiple abortions

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

If they cared even a shred about moral degradation they wouldn't vote for a guy who has been divorced twice, curses like a sailor, cheats on his wife with porn stars, barges in on 14 year old girls while they're naked, and has 20-something sexual assault allegations.

In their mind its the choice between a flawed man and someone who will legalize/keep legal baby killing.

To them its a simple choice.

---

Also they're less concerned about the moral failings of one man and more about the moral failing of the whole country.

They'll take a flawed man if it means less people in the country fail morally.

---

This is dystopian, Light said. America could fracture.

astronautwithhandgun.jpg

---

wackyteen posted...

In their mind its the choice between a flawed man and someone who will legalize/keep legal baby killing.

To them its a simple choice.

They don't care about baby killing. The pro life stance is one that has no position except for the punishment of women who are sexually active.

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

They don't care about baby killing. The pro life stance is one that has no position except for the punishment of women who are sexually active.

It's the number one issue that drives a lot of people to vote.

They just don't consider or don't care about taking away women's right to choose what happens to their body.

---

Antifar posted...

Theres millions and millions of Trump votes that were just thrown out, said Hedrick, 70, a retired teacher and librarian. That computer was throwing them out.

This guy taught children

---

wackyteen posted...

In their mind its the choice between a flawed man and someone who will legalize/keep legal baby killing.

To them its a simple choice.

I know a far right podcast host who argues that being pro life is the proper Black Lives Matter stance, because nothing kills more minorities than abortion

---