It has come to light that the former President Donald Trump and his most loyal allies have spent the better part of three years falsely claiming that not only was the 2020 election stolen, but that this was proved via Washington Post.
Following his federal indictment over attempts to overturn the election, however — and with another indictment potentially headed his way in Georgia — the former president has seemingly undergone a subtle shift in his messaging.
During a Newsmax interview Wednesday night, Trump added such a qualifier no fewer than six times in the space of 30 seconds.
“I’m telling them that, in my opinion, the election was rigged,” Trump said of the Jan. 2, 2021, call in which he urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” just enough votes to overturn Trump’s deficit.
“I believe I won that election by many, many votes, many, many hundreds of thousands of votes,” Trump said. “That’s what I think.”
“That’s my opinion, and it’s a strong opinion,” he added. “And I think it’s borne out by the facts, and we’ll see that.”
To recap: “In my opinion.” “I believe.” “That’s what I think.” “That’s my opinion.” “It’s a strong opinion.” “I think.”
It is noted that Trump’s rhetoric is, in one way, a reflection of his legal strategy. Special counsel Jack Smith devoted much of his 45-page indictment to the idea that Trump knew better about his wild claims of voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere.
In each of six key states, Smith pointed to Trump’s being told that a specific claim was false and then continuing to lodge it anyway, including in all six cases on Jan. 6 itself.
