Minnesota is gearing up for their gubernatorial election next year and the Republican candidates had a little debate last week. Because Minnesota is widely known as a barometer for the political climate of the country and because I deeply care about what is going on in the Minnesota GOP, I watched their debate in order to gain a greater understanding of the direction in which our country is headed.
What really happened is, I saw someone say on Twitter say that nobody on the panel would unequivocally admit that Biden won the election.
Hugh Hewitt is moderating a Minnesota GOP gubernatorial debate and the first question he asked: did Biden legitimately win the 2020 election?
— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) December 16, 2021
Not one of the five candidates came anywhere close to saying yes.
So I decided to watch only that part of the debate just to see what the rhetoric was looking like and y’all — I’m so sick of them it made me chuckle.
Start at 10:11
The moderator says, “In your opinion did President Biden win a constitutional majority of the Electoral College? If yes, how did you come to your conclusion, and if no, which states are in dispute and why?”
This guy asked a panel of politicians to give an opinion on a factual statement. Uncle Joe won a constitutional majority of the Electoral College. Period. There was no fraud. This has been debunked around the planet.
Guy 1 answers: I don’t know and we have to take that attitude toward 2020. We have to take the attitude that we don’t know the results of a president election?
Guy 2 answers: This is not unique to 2020. Oh? Y’all stole 2016, is that what you’re saying? Because you won that election, so does it apply every cycle or only when the Democrats win? In Minnesota our dictator governor went around to the legislature to weaken what defenses we did have for voter integrity. Do I think that played a role? How could it not? I would like to remind y’all that in Minnesota, Republicans won the Senate. Amazing how voter fraud only applies to votes cast for Democrats.
Guy 3 answers: Don’t let me vote Democrat when I die (laughs from the audience). Because we’re going with this lie that a bunch of dead people voted. I do believe there was voter fraud at a massive scale across this country. And where is the evidence? A massive scale should show more than just a couple of pockets of Maybe This, Maybe That over a few hundred votes. A massive scale means hundreds of thousands of instances of fraud. We need to enforce the laws we already have and prosecute the people committing voter fraud (claps from the audience). Nobody is getting in trouble. Let’s note here that “nobody is getting in trouble” largely applies to Republicans, like this Trump voter in Pennsylvania who got probation while this woman in Texas (voting for Hillary in 2016) who did not know she wasn’t allowed to vote while on probation got five years in jail. We need people who feel disenfranchised to show up like they did in 2022 when they took Virginia back and elected Youngkin and we can take back the House here in Minnesota. Yes, white Conservatives are so disenfranchised. Their representation in Congress isn’t outsized in proportion to their population makeup in any way whatsoever.
Guy 4 answers: I don’t think the election was fair but we have the results that we have and the Electoral College is the way that we determine the election. Each state has their own deal and I’m not a fan of how it all played out, but I’m focused on Minnesota. Is this an argument for doing away with the electoral college? Because I wholeheartedly support that, Guy Whose Name I Will Not Bother To Look Up.
Lady 5 answers: …be an election judge, be a poll watcher. The more we watch, the less they cheat. She did not answer the question directly, because she probably knows Biden won the election but she doesn’t want to say so because that is political suicide in the Republican Party right now. So the moderator asks again: Did Biden win? He was certified by Congress as having won the Electoral College. That is a political answer if ever I did see one.
So, that’s where we are y’all. The Republicans who believe with their whole chest that the election was rigged or stolen have made that part of their plan to force voting restrictions, and the ones who may have a single brain cell left are too afraid to admit that they have one lest they be cast out of the big ignorant tent erected by the GOP.
Make your voting plan early. Dot your i’s and cross your t’s. Help your older family members register and assist in gathering documents to make sure they have an ID. You can even find the election dates on your calendar and plan to take off work that day. Whatever you need to do to prepare for the shenanigans, go ahead and start putting those processes in place because the GOP is only going to get worse.
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