Whenever Donald Trump holds one of his super spreader rallies, it boosts his confidence. Why shouldn’t it? He’s surrounded by hundreds of adoring fans who chant his name, and whatever else spews out of his lying mouth. Despite the polls showing Trump trailing Biden, sometimes by double-digits, Trump continues to exude confidence about his re-election chances.
Despite his outward façade of confidence, the Trump campaign is working feverishly, behind the scenes, to foist yet another con on American voters. From claims of voter fraud to a rigged election to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, they are doing everything possible to confuse the public, the same way they did in 2016 with Wikileaks.
And yet there is another, more insidious con game the Trump campaign is waging.
They are attempting to use the courts to prevent people from voting. Multiple lawsuits, in the hundreds, are being filed to contest absentee ballots, access to voting drop boxes and access to polling places. Each of these efforts are to undermine voter confidence and restrict the right to vote and to make Americans doubt their vote will count.
The major reason Republicans in Congress allowed Trump to run amok was it gave them the opportunity to pack the federal benches with Conservatives, thus guaranteeing them a strong voice in the judiciary for years to come. As if that weren’t enough, now with an opportunity to appoint yet another Conservative justice to the Supreme Court, they are reversing the decision they swore to uphold in 2016 to await the outcome of the election, and let the people decide.
Loyalty is the one thing Trump demands the most. He insists that anyone in his orbit sign a non-disclosure agreement, thereby swearing fealty to him, even above the oath they swore to defend the Constitution. And while he probably didn’t ask this of the judges he had a hand in appointing to the federal bench, he is no doubt depending on this to grant him favorable decisions in his multiple challenges to the voting process, and ultimately, to what most assuredly will be a contested election.
With Trump it’s go big or go home. Which is why he is depending on taking any election dispute all the way to the Supreme Court to be decided in his favor. His current nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, has refused to commit to whether or not she will recuse herself from any electoral disputes, which has Trump banking on the highest court in the land to grant him a favorable decision, and four more years of chaos.
Trump’s con game of sowing confusion around the election has little to do with what’s good for the country. Instead, it’s about his planet-sized ego, as well as his desire to run out the clock on the multiple investigations into his finances. His re-election would prevent him from being prosecuted while in office while the statute of limitations expires rendering these investigations moot.
Let’s hope his overconfidence is his undoing. Let’s hope judges follow the rule of law rather than a misguided sense of loyalty. Better yet, let’s hope for a landslide Biden victory that will leave in no doubt the victor in the election. Let’s hope for a better tomorrow and a con man behind bars.
November 3rd.