Eric Weinstein has never supported Trump. In a recent Tweet he has stated: “I couldn’t vote DJT because of the daily negative effect he has on our national culture.” That said, some Trump supporters are among the many people who follow Weinstein (through his writings and through his excellent podcast, “The Portal”). Today Weinstein wrote a series of Tweets to Trump supporters. I don’t know that Weinstein’s fear about the football is substantiated, but it is something that occurs to me repeatedly and makes me nervous.
Even if misuse of the “football” is not a legit fear (yet), I do think that the delta between Trump’s vote fraud allegations and proof of such a fraud is a well-substantiated existential threat, proof that Trump is willing to put his enormous fragile ego ahead of the safety of the United States. Trump is recklessly trying to stir up (through misinformation) a mob of 70M people in an attempt to circumvent the rule of law. How are Trump’s lies on “election fraud” not treasonous, especially given that MIT studies have shown that lies spread much fast than the truth on social media?
I write this article knowing that many people on the political right are passionately seeking the reelection of Trump or at least they are passionately opposed to Joe Biden and the political left. I’m firmly convinced that most people don’t support Trump because he is a “racist,” as many of the left claim (any of us who actually personally know even a few Trump supporters know this). There are many reasons to be apprehensive about Joe Biden (I write this having voted for Biden over Trump, who I also see saw as an existential threat to the United States based on many things he has done over the past 4 years). Those legitimate fears about Biden (see below) are dry tinder that Trump is exploiting through his baseless claims of election fraud. This is a precarious moment for the United States.
Here is the dry tinder that could ignite the “mob” of 70 million. There are dozens of reasons other than “racism” that convinced millions of people to vote for Trump (or to vote against Biden):
It is over. Biden has won, and no amount of recounts, audits or lawsuits will overturn the election. Trump’s accusations of fraud without proof are damaging the electorate’s trust in our election processes. Still, the lawsuits and investigations need to go forward, just dispassionately. Why, when we know they won’t change the outcome? Because who won just isn’t that important. Restoring the electorate’s faith in our election processes is important.
My leftist friends tell me it’s time to stop raising issues; as Senator Hirono put it, “Sit down and shut up.” Doing that will only further divide the electorate and generate more distrust in those who did not vote for Biden.In 2016 half the elecfctorate refused to accept the election result, Immediately voices were raised proclaiming “Not my President,” and vowing to prevent Trump from governing. Literally hundreds of lawsuits were filed, and for four years we endured misfeasance and malfeasance of government, with perjury, fabricating evidence and suspension of due process all normalized “because Trump.” Three separate coup attempts failed.
In 2020, Biden and the Democrats ran on a single issue: We hate Trump. There was no other message to be heard. What little of Democrat proposals made it through the cacophony was roundly rejected by the voters. In a stunning result, voters roundly rejected both the Republicans’ nominee for President, and downballot the Democratic party. Insisting on sending out unverifiable blank ballots to everyone at the last known address, and attempts to convince the public that these were no different from absentee ballots, while fertilizing doubt that already existed, cannot be turned off with a switch.