President Donald Trump is working to confuse Americans and erode trust in the U.S. elections because he knows his campaign is in trouble, according to Lincoln Project co-founder Reed Galen. The former Republican strategist expressed his thoughts about what Trump is doing with 100 days to go before the 2020 presidential election in a new Business Insider opinion article.
The co-founder of The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group of Republicans and former GOP members, warned that the president is returning to his 2016 playbook of sowing discord and confusion about the upcoming election. Galen reminded people that ahead of 2016, as a candidate, Trump said that he might not accept the outcome of the elections, which is what he’s also insinuated about this year’s vote.
“In 2020, now President Donald Trump is at it again. This time, Trump, his White House, and his campaign are playing a double game,” wrote Galen.
In an interview last week with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday , the president indicated that he might not accept the results, and would wait and see. The pointed response is not the way past incumbents have responded when it came to questions about the integrity of the voting process in the U.S.
Galen also accused the president of deliberately lying about voter fraud through the mail, which is one of the ways he’s attempting to cast doubt on the outcome of the vote on November 3.
“When he says that mail-in voting is regularly abused by fraudulent voters, Trump knows he’s not telling the truth, but he’s never claimed he was.”
Trump’s continued insistence that the U.S. shouldn’t cast ballots through the mail has caused problems for his campaign in several swing states, according to a USA Today report. In many areas, Republican voters remain hesitant to request their mail-in ballots, causing volunteers to spend valuable time attempting to educate about why they should request a ballot, which they have the right to do in the majority of states. The mixed messages from the Republican party is confusing would-be voters.
The Lincoln Project co-founder warned that Trump damaged the faith that many Americans have in its democracy by attempting to convince the populace that the elections in the U.S. are not free and fair.
“Perhaps this is where Trump has done the most long-lasting institutional damage to the country. Democracies are tests of faith. Millions of people must believe that the system we’ve collectively agreed to, works for us,” the former strategist wrote.