With the nomination of Ohio Sen. JD Vance for vice president at the Republican National Convention on Monday, the GOP has doubled down on its insistence on election denialism as central to its DNA. The Big Lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” remains an inextricable centerpiece of Trumpism, while any meaningful pushback has been eliminated within the party.
Once a “never-Trumper,” Vance reversed course on entering the 2020 Senate race in Ohio, becoming an outspoken supporter of the then-president and a spokesperson for the Big Lie. Both before and after the 2020 presidential election, he claimed that people voted illegally “on a large-scale basis” and spread other conspiracy theories about the election. When asked in an ABC interview earlier this year what he would have done if he had been vice president on January 6, 2021, Vance admitted that he would not have certified the election results.
In fact, this election cycle only those who embrace election denialism and are therefore deemed sufficiently loyal to former U.S. President Donald Trump have remained within the Republican Party fold. In March of this year, longtime chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) Ronna McDaniel was forced to resign from her position under pressure amid rising tension between Trump and the RNC. Under her leadership, the RNC had dutifully promoted Trump’s false claims of voter and electoral fraud, as well as downplayed the severity of the insurrection on January 6.
The complete takeover of the GOP by election deniers is on full display at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.
McDaniel’s rapid fall from grace within the RNC was shocking in many ways given her unflinching loyalty to Trump and willingness to utilize the RNC to further his interests. Georgia’s National Committeeman Jason Thompson suggested in April that her ouster as chair had been sealed by her refusal to allow the RNC to cover the legal costs of indicted fake electors. According to him, McDaniel said it was, “Not our problem.” Thompson points to her refusal as the driving force behind “the downfall of Ronna.”
McDaniel was replaced by Trump-approved loyalists, with North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley and Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, elected as RNC chair and co-chair, respectively. Whatley previously promoted 2020 election lies and supported legal efforts to overturn the results, and Lara Trump has accused the Democrats of “massive fraud” in 2020.
Staffers at the RNC were laid off en masse following the shakeup, with more than 60 officials booted from their positions. Reporting by The Washington Post revealed that under the new leadership, prospective RNC employees were asked during their job interviews if they believed the 2020 election was stolen, essentially making election denialism the new litmus test for employment at the RNC.
Since then, the RNC has announced an “election integrity” initiative to mobilize thousands of polling place monitors, poll workers, and attorneys in swing states during the November election. “We can never go back and repeat 2020, but we can learn the lessons from 2020,” said Lara Trump at the kickoff event for the initiative. The RNC has also filed lawsuits in battleground states to bar mail-in ballots from being counted after Election Day.
The complete takeover of the GOP by election deniers is on full display at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week. On Monday, the event opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Debbie Kraulidis, a J6 protester. Convention speakers feature prominent Republicans who have spread Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, including Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, among many others.
At least 16 delegates invited to this year’s convention signed fraudulent Electoral College documents in their states in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, serving as “fake electors” in a coordinated attempt to subvert the outcome of the election in seven battleground states. In addition, at least four convention delegates had been slated to act as fake electors before others were chosen in their place. The fake electors from Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada are currently facing felony charges, except for one whose charges were dropped in exchange for cooperation. As of last August, 3 of 16 fake electors in Georgia have been indicted in connection with the state’s massive racketeering case against Trump and 18 co-defendants.
Other prominent election deniers are also serving as delegates at this week’s convention, including Georgia National Committeewoman Amy Kremer, who was one of the most active fundraisers in the Stop the Steal movement and whose organization secured the permit for the Save America rally in Washington on January 6, and Michigan delegate Matthew DePerno, who currently faces criminal charges for an alleged effort to tamper with voting machines following the 2020 election.
