According to a new report from Politico, plenty of GOP heavyweights are starting to get seriously worried about how detrimental some of the more ludicrous conspiracy theories circling amongst their voter base will be to the party as a whole come 2022. Things have gotten so bad that top Trump lieutenants like Hogan Gidley and QAnon-loving Congress members like Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene are speaking out in hopes they can convince MAGA supporters to fill out their ballots when midterms happen, despite many of them believing our current election system is compromised.
“People are going to do whatever they want, and I can’t answer for any of those other groups,” Gidley told Politico when asked about misinformation campaigns and the efforts of “Stop the Steal” believers like Mike Lindell to cast doubt on our voting systems. “But as it relates to election integrity and voter protection, it is vital that we help states get these simple, popular security mechanisms in place to ensure honesty for the 2022 midterms. I want to make sure that the data we gather and the information we share is built on solid ground as opposed to sinking sand.”
Gidley’s view is one shared by top brass Republicans like Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and Senator Roy Blunt, who have publicly criticized Trump and his allies for pulling focus from upcoming midterms to push baseless voter fraud theories about elections that happened nearly a year ago. And, according to a poll conducted by Politico, they’ve got reason to be worried. Among Trump voters, 22 percent said they believed the 2020 Presidential Election was “fair” while just 38 percent expressed the belief that the 2022 midterms would be. That kind of distrust in government is the direct consequence of Trump’s ongoing “Stop the Steal” messaging and it could signal a lower turnout in Republican voters next year.
“When my fellow Republicans are focused on the wrong things, when they’re focused on conspiracies about secret algorithms on voting machines, and they’re focused on ideas there is a group of ballots printed in China snuck in the back door of the board of elections — all those things are easily disproven,” Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose told Politico. “But a focus on those things distracts from what I consider the real concerns about election integrity.”
Things have become so dire that even Greene — a mascot for some of the more bizarre conspiracy theories floating amongst party members right now — has had to issue warnings to her voter base.
“I recently conducted a poll on Georgia’s elections and if my constituents felt their votes would count during a teletown hall. Sadly, 4% said they won’t even vote due to voter fraud. This is WRONG. Legal votes by Rs are just as important as stopping illegal ones,” she tweeted.
It’s all fun and games and nonsense about secret sex cabals run by lizard overlords until Republican voters stop showing up to the polls, we guess?