Below is an excerpt from an article describing the experience of two avid Trump voters on election night:
By 9:30 p.m… Mr. Trump seemed to have a commanding lead in Florida and Pennsylvania… they drifted off around 11 p.m. with a warm, spreading certainty that their candidate was going to win. It was sweet, and it felt like vindication. At 2:30 in the morning, Ms. Rocco awoke with a start. When she checked her news feed, she discovered that Mr. Biden was leading in several Western states, and Mr. Trump’s advantage in states like Wisconsin and Michigan was melting away. Now she could no longer sleep. “I’m about 100 percent sure there’s fraud going on,” she said, although there was no evidence of fraud.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/us/trump-supporters.html
Even though I could probably never support someone like Trump, under a very few circumstances, I can totally understand why someone else would vote for him. There is a really narrow argument that most Trump supporters are probably incapable of making where that makes total sense to me, but what I just cannot understand is how some Trump supporters can be 100% certain that Trump lost just because the election was a fraud, especially when there is no evidence to support wide and vast voting fraud. Like any election in this country, I’m sure there were indeed instances of illegal or double voting, which probably favored Trump on some occasions and Biden on others (and states should investigate and prosecute when discovered), but widespread, systematic voting fraud is extremely unlikely though I am always open to considering that if it’s what the evidence shows in a court of law.
Yes, it’s definitely possible that widespread fraud can occur, but why would there only be massive fraud this year and not in 2016 or in any other year? Can Trump supporters like the ones mentioned in the article even entertain the possibility that Trump could lose fair and square? Is that even a chance in their universe? If the answer is no, then that tells me all I need to know about you.
I’m not thrilled about a Biden presidency but considering the alternative, I really can’t complain that much. Yes, I do have a very strong aversion to another four years of a Trump presidency but I would definitely accept it if that’s what the votes showed at the end of the day, just like they did in 2016. Every legitimate vote counts. Even the ones you don’t like.
Anyone who simply cannot entertain the possibility that Trump lost fair and square, or any other candidate they supported in any given year for that matter, is just a moron.
I think the really great conversation below helps to explain so much of this type of irrationality (full conversation here):
I’m paraphrasing but the underlying reason for all this absurdity is that a substantial portion of the American people, both on the left and right, are probably just too stupid to be governed. Social media is downgrading our attention spans, critical thinking and our ability to form a logical opinion of anything that is not hyper-present.
We are worth far more to social media companies when we are addicted, distracted, outraged, narcissistic, polarized and disinformed than if we are a sensible and informed citizen in society.
