“Four more years”: the parallel world of Trump supporters

“We want America. We want America to come back, ”says Lisa Peterson. The middle-aged lady wears a red suit and has a “Team Trump” button printed on the right lapel. And she’s pretty sure of America’s political future. Donald Trump will remain president, Peterson says in a firm voice. Why? “Because I believe it. And I don’t question my convictions ”. But what if Democrat Joe Biden took office as the new president on January 20, 2021? “I don’t think it will come to that.”

“Bob”, who does not want to give his last name, looks very similar. “Let’s Make America Godly Again,” says his red baseball cap, based on Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again.” Who will be sworn in as president in January? “Donald Trump,” says “Bob.” And who won the Georgia elections? Here, too, the most American champion of the fear of God stands firm. His answer is: “Donald Trump.”

Welcome to Trump fans, to the parallel world of supporters of the current US president, who a month after the election has still not admitted defeat. In the world that is manipulated with the steep Trump theses (“I have won”), crude accusations of fraud and various conspiracy theories.

Lisa Peterson and Bob are two of roughly 400 people at a rally hosted by incumbent Vice President Mike Pence on Friday afternoon in Savannah, Georgia. It’s 23 degrees Celsius, some wind. Whitney Houston’s “I Want To Dance With Someone” booms over the speakers. The public waits patiently until Pence flies Air Force Two an hour late and the machine practically comes to a stop next to the speaker’s platform.

In Georgia, beyond all conspiracy theories, the following applies: After the election is before the election. Two senators will vote in a month. If the two Republican rulers lose their seats in this second round, their majority is out of date. So it’s 50:50, and Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, 56, would tip the balance.

The stupid thing is for the Republicans in Georgia: Joe Biden, 78, just won the election in his Georgia stronghold, narrowly, with an advantage of about 11,000 votes. Suddenly, the old Republican state is a battlefield where both sides are on an equal footing.

Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, certified the election result. Georgia Interior Secretary Brad Raffensberger, a Republican, has been denying Trump’s fraud allegations for weeks. The president calls his party colleague an “enemy of the people.”

In Georgia, of all places, Trump wants to hold his first rally since Saturday’s election. The incumbent president has invited a “victory rally” on Saturday night (local time, Sunday morning CET) at the Valdosta regional airport. Also present: the two senators Kelly Loeffler, 50, and David Perdue, 70. The two compete to see who is more loyal to Trump. They asked their own interior minister to resign because he had proclaimed Biden the winner.

The official occasion of the rally is the Senate race. But for the incumbent president, of course, the main thing is to gild his own future. What message does Trump want to convey? Will he continue to stick to his official line that he won the presidential election? Or are you creating a way out of the confusion you have created, even if it is with an aside?

Republicans fear that Trump’s ongoing allegations of voter fraud could prevent Republican-leaning Georgia citizens from voting. Two more blows to the neck on January 5, 2021, would seriously damage the Republican Party.

Trump may simply be a slob, head of state, and head of government who has to leave the White House in 46 days. But his words count, because they created that fact-free parallel world in which many Republicans have comfortably settled. Trump fans take every word their teacher says at face value, often quoting it literally, trying to sell it as their own wisdom.

Lisa Peterson, for example, the lady with the “Team Trump” insignia on the red suit. What does she think of the Republican-led state of Georgia that certifies Biden’s electoral victory? “The media do not advertise the president. The procedure is not like that ”. And is that interior minister, Raffensberger, talking about a Biden victory? “You can say what you want.” Then Peterson talks about voter fraud and how “anti-American” it all is.

The most pious “Bob” also complains of “fraud” in the recent elections. This fraud must end, otherwise “we will lose our country.” He uses a literal phrase from Trump, according to which one must “count the legal votes.”

And as with Trump’s slogans, it’s always about everything: “We have to stand up as Americans now, or we will lose our freedom.” And what do you say to Mr. Raffensberger, the Republican Home Secretary? “We call those people Republicans by name only.” That’s also Trump’s vocabulary. Raffensberger has “dirt on the stick”, and the money is in the game.

The strategy of Trump, the Republicans and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, with accusations of fraud and – several dozen failed trials – to maintain the fairy tale of electoral victory? If he has to leave the White House, Trump wants to combine this with the stark claim that all was not well. For him, this strategy has paid off so far, also financially.

Trump has raised $ 207.5 million in donations since Election Day. His campaign bombarded his followers with emails and text messages. Do you want to try on Friday? “The second round is crucial to saving AMERICA from the left and I am counting on YOU to stand up and make sure we have the money to move forward,” reads one of those emails.

Just in time for the day before his visit to Georgia, Trump’s campaign team demanded a full re-election in the Georgia presidential election. The reasons “major systematic misconduct, fraud and other irregularities”. In Georgia, given the tight result, a second recount is already underway.

Trump’s parallel world can also be seen on the periphery of the Savannah airport on Friday, before and during the penny rally. The occasion is also the two elections to the Senate. “Four more years”, “Four more years” they shout to the audience as Pence stands on the lectern. Four years: this is how the terms of the president and vice president last. One of the Senate elections is not scheduled, the position ends in two years. As usual, the other Senate seat is for six years.

Pence (“I’m standing next to President Trump”) is a grandmaster half-truth. Trump received 74 million votes in the November 3 election, he says. Right. But he prefers to ignore the fact that 81 million Americans voted for Biden.

Nor does he mention the dozen failed trials. The competition continues, “in Georgia and in court.” And then in Trump’s original quote: “Every legal vote must be counted, every illegal vote must be rejected.”

Strictly loyal to Trump, Pence has not admitted defeat or invited his successor Kamala Harris (as Vice President Biden did with him immediately after the 2016 election). Even more interesting is what Pence does not say at this rally. It does not say “We won the election” or “Joe Biden lost the election.” Nor does it say, “I will remain vice president” or “Kamala Harris will not become vice president.”

Speaking for the president, he is demanding pennies and campaigning for the re-election of the two Republican senators. He then drops a comment that is instructive because it indicates the end of one’s power. In defense of the Republican majority in the Senate, Pence warns that “it could be the last line of defense.”