Trump supporters focus on regaining power—no matter how Americans vote

On Monday, the Republican National Committee asked the Supreme Court to step into an election dispute in Arizona by blocking up to 40,000 registered voters from casting ballots in November. That’s because the more likely that it becomes that Vice President Kamala Harris will win this election, the more focused Donald Trump and his supporters become on that other contest—the one to ensure he regains power no matter how Americans vote.

Since Harris began her candidacy and quickly gathered the support necessary to become the Democratic nominee, Trump has been pushing the idea that her ascendency was somehow illegal. As The Washington Post reports, the narrative meant to delegitimize Harris as a candidate has included Trump claiming that Harris should be “disqualified” for what Trump claimed was a fake image of a campaign rally crowd (it wasn’t). But the more consistent theme from Trump is that Harris took over as the Democratic candidate in a “coup” and that the presidency was “Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him.”

At the same time that Trump is prompting his followers to question the legitimacy of Harris as a candidate, Republicans are also preparing for Insurrection 2.0. They're not waiting for Jan 6, 2025. Efforts to stop democracy are already underway from state governments to the Supreme Court.