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It is very serious when Trump undermines confidence in the American electoral system with unproven allegations of electoral fraud. But haven’t we heard this before, from Democrats?
This is a comment. It is the attitude of the writer that is expressed.
– I was the candidate who simply had an election stolen.
The quote is from Hillary Clinton, published in New York Times, a week before the elections.
“We need votes so overwhelming that Trump cannot slip away or steal his way to victory,” Clinton said at the Democratic national convention in August.
August was also the month Democrats launched conspiracy theories and unsubstantiated accusations that Trump had asked the new postal service director to harass the postal services in a way that would prevent postal votes from arriving on time.
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You may have heard of these theories, because NTB and the Norwegian press passed them on without criticism, without a hint of proof that there was anything to them.
“You can run the best election campaign, you can even become a presidential candidate and have your election stolen,” Clinton said in May 2019.
Pressemas and allegations of Russia
Democrats, and the press, have never stopped talking about how Trump “stole” Clinton’s election in 2016, and throughout the year they have talked about how Trump even tried to “steal” her election in 2020.
While the press endlessly insisted on how Trump refused to say in advance whether he would accept an electoral defeat, Clinton and the Democrats had made it clear to everyone for years that they had not yet accepted the outcome of the 2016 election.
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In the immediate aftermath of the 2016 election, up to 50 percent of Democrats believed that Russia had manipulated the number of votes to help Trump win. By March 2018, the figure had risen to 66 percent, despite multiple denials by US authorities. But Clinton supporters must have gotten the idea from somewhere.
Perhaps it is no wonder that both Democrats and others who read the news believe this, when the press expresses it as it did to create confusion around this. An example is when VG uploaded the headline: “This is how the Russians are supposed to have hacked the elections.” VG was inspired by the American media.
Here you can read more George Gooding posts.
When Clinton and the Democrats also began to accuse Trump of a secret collaboration with the Russian authorities to win the election, again without evidence and which has now been completely refuted, it was an implicit accusation that Trump made Russia manipulate. the number of votes on your behalf.
Lost but even thought he won
After Democrat Stacy Abrams lost the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, she, like Clinton, launched a campaign to accuse Republicans of cheating, believing that its he was the legitimate winner of the elections.
“I feel comfortable saying now that I won,” Abrams added. New York Times Magazine in April 2019, five months after losing the election.
The media fact-checkers saw no reason to verify it. The press never wrote that she threatened democracy by undermining confidence in the electoral system with unproven accusations of cheating.
No journalist complained that Abrams could claim that he won an election that she did not win.
Quiz: Test your knowledge of US presidents.
Have we forgotten the Bush years?
When we now read how the Norwegian media dresses in dismay that Trump accuses the Democrats of stealing the election, I want to start a little moment to remember how the same gang was doing after the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, when George W. Bush won.
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“Bush won power in 2000 after a very controversial election against Al Gore. Many thought that Bush stole the election. »
– Eirik Grasaas-Stavenes, Klassekampen, August 27, 2020
“But in the eyes of many Americans, Bush will always be the president who stole the election in 2000, Edwards emphasizes “.
– NTB, December 27, 2008
«President, George W. Bush, som stole the election really lost … »
– Halvor Elvik, Dagbladet, September 11, 2006
“So the prediction is far from being fulfilled, Ohio became the new Florida in 2004, and Bush’s legacy will likely be that stole the election not just once, but twice, and thus sovereignly surpass Tricky Dick as the worst president in the history of the United States. “
– Eirik Øverland, Klassekampen, October 11, 2005
«The contradictions that started with that Bush stole the election in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004 and it has caused the lies to simmer. “
– Peter M. Johansen, Klassekampen, July 28, 2005
“After the 2000 presidential election, Michael Moore was so furious the way George W. Bush stole the election“who sat down to write a book in which he takes a violent position against everything he believes to be wrong in American society.”
– Class Struggle, February 3, 2003
«Steal the Bush administration election? Neither report goes that far in its conclusions, but of course there are a lot of Democrats asking that question. Republicans respond by dismissing them as conspiracy theorists. He will shoot himself in the foot. […] Many people don’t realize that people rose after George W. Bush stole the election i 2000. »
– Åse Brandvold, Klassekampen, December 22, 2004
“Democrats still believe that Bush stole the election and that minority voters were discriminated against. “
– Helge Øgrim, Dagbladet, November 2, 2004
«[Greg] Palace is heroically famous for its articles on “How the Bush Family stole the election i Florida i 2000 »…»
– Dagsavisen, January 20, 2004
«Steal George W. Bush, John Kerry’s victory in the presidential election? Many Democrats wonder, and in the absence of public scrutiny, they have found disturbing answers on other channels. “
– Ingeborg Eliassen, Stavanger Aftenblad, November 27, 2004
“The 43rd president of the United States is described in Europe as an empty-minded papa boy and a bloodthirsty executioner. Even at home, the governor of Texas salutes the dirt, many believe stole the election. »
– Helge Øgrim, Dagbladet, January 20, 2001
“The majority of the black population in the United States seems to be convinced that Bush stole the electoral victory“And it is a fact that on election day he received more than half a million fewer votes than the opposing candidate.”
– Morten Fyhn, Aftenposten, January 20, 2001
This is just a small selection of everything that has been written in the Norwegian press and public on this topic over the years.
The same type of complaints mentioned here have also been published in books by Norwegian authors, such as Ole O. Moen, one of the most cited in the Norwegian press about the United States.
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Lack of critical eye
There should be no doubt that Democrats for several years accused Bush of stealing his two options, something of which the media has not been critical, but rather participated in spreading accusations.
The vast majority agree that Trump’s electoral fraud allegations are dangerous to confidence in the American electoral system, but why did the Democrats and the press disagree that exactly the same kinds of accusations against Bush and Trump for the past 20 years were equally serious?
In reality, Trump only reflects the hyperpartisan, irresponsible, dishonest, and conspiracy-laden behavior that they themselves have been pursuing and getting away with all these years.
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