Every Accusation is a Confession
Donald Trump’s objective is to lose by little.
Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed “stable genius,” took to Truth Social on September 23, claiming, “They are getting ready to CHEAT!”
Trump continues to push the narrative that the 2020 election was stolen. Yet, as is often the case, every accusation from Trump and his allies seems more like a confession.
Despite Trump’s baseless claims, there was no evidence of Democrats or Joe Biden stealing the 2020 election. In reality, Trump and his circle made frantic attempts to overturn the results. Now, his billionaire allies are already laying the groundwork for similar efforts in 2024. Peter Thiel, during a recent appearance on the “All-In” podcast, suggested that Democrats will “cheat” if the 2024 election is close — ironically hinting at a redo of the playbook Trump deployed in 2020.
PETER THIEL: If it is going to be close, by the way, if it is a razor-thin close election, I’m pretty sure Kamala will win because they will cheat.
They will cheat. They will fortify it. They will steal the ballots. In the event that it is close, I don’t want to be involved. In the event that it is not close, I don’t need to be involved. So that it is a straightforward analysis right there”.
So, what exactly is Trump’s plan to repeat his failed 2020 strategy and steal the 2024 election? A lot is stacked against him this time. Democrats are fully aware of what he and his allies are capable of, as everyone saw on January 6th. Former Vice President Mike Pence himself stands as a key witness to the effort to extend Trump’s presidency, even after the people had rejected it. Trump was caught on tape asking Georgia’s Secretary of State to “find” 11k votes for him.
Despite holding the vice presidency in 2020, Trump and his team failed. Now, Biden is the president, and the levers of power — including the crucial Department of Justice, Attorney General, and the Vice President who will read the electoral college votes — are in Democratic hands.
Trump’s playbook will start with accusations that Democrats are stealing the election as mail-in ballots begin to be counted. “Only Election Day votes should count,” he will shout, followed by claims that the election is being stolen.
Then, he’ll file lawsuits, and urge his January 6th-style supporters to protest ongoing ballot counting. These scenes will flood the national media. Elon Musk will amplify the accusations, while Peter Thiel works in the background.
Other GOP billionaires, having invested hundreds of millions to prop up Trump’s faltering 2024 campaign, will be working behind the scenes. After all, the January 6th protestors didn’t just show up by chance — dark money quietly funded their mobilization. There were whispers of a certain judge’s wife with an upside-down American flag, and another judge’s wife actively helping Trump by making his case. These forces will be even more motivated this time to lift Trump back into power. This is their last chance to undermine democracy, and they know it.
Their strategy relies on creating enough noise. The louder the chaos, the better their chances of pressuring Republican state legislatures in Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona to send alternate electors — the ones rejected by voters — to Congress.
That’s what they need: for GOP legislatures to submit a separate slate of electors to Congress and throw the election to the House, appointing Trump as a dictator. Once in power, Trump will handsomely reward all the power brokers who helped him get there — the judges, their wives, the former “champion” of the Earth, the man who said the world is better off when women don’t vote and the Christian fundamentalists. While the poor, uneducated men who still believe Trump speaks nothing but the truth and voted for him in large numbers, will remain poor and uneducated. He will feed them with more Qanons.
It’s a plan. They are going to try again. They tried and failed last time, but there’s a big difference now. In 2020, many GOP billionaires kept their involvement in the shadows. This time, more of them have stepped into the open, showing just how desperate they’ve become.
We cannot underestimate their sickness, nor can we underestimate their desire to turn the United States into an oligarchy. Trump is their last chance. Once he’s knocked out, the intense power struggle that will follow for the MAGA throne is likely to splinter the anti-democratic movement. Musk and Thiel are betting on J.D. Vance to take over, but it’s not going to be easy. They’re trying, but the odds of MAGA consuming itself in its own fire of hate are much higher than it holding together long enough to move forward.
So, expect them to go all out. A Supreme Court intervention to help Trump and his billionaire backers is the final threat to democracy, and it’s very real.
One of the best ways to stop this is for Kamala Harris to sweep the seven battleground states — decisively clearing the path away from Donald Trump. That’s why Democrats need to keep raising funds and campaigning like their lives depend on it.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is flailing, firing randomly into the void. Their spending in this final stretch suggests they’ve given up trying to win by convincing voters to choose them for change. Just look at what they’re spending in North Carolina — it reveals their true plan. They’ve likely realized there’s no way to outright win this race, so they’re fighting in all seven battleground states to keep Kamala Harris from winning by a large margin.
Their goal is to lose by as little as possible. Viewed through that lens, their strategy to invest heavily in Pennsylvania, where Harris’s lead remains steady, but spend less in North Carolina, where the race has been tight since August 14th, makes sense. The same pattern is repeating in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia.
Trump isn’t spending to win these battlegrounds; he’s spending to lose by a small margin while relying on social media billionaires to amplify noise about the election.
Kamala Harris needs a landslide win — a sweep of all seven battlegrounds, with a margin large enough to bury the dark forces rallying behind Trump. And that goal is not out of reach.
Between the two candidates, only Kamala Harris has the opportunity to win all seven battlegrounds. With Trump shifting his strategy to “lose by little,” the odds of a Harris sweep have just increased.
It may be underrated, but honesty and hard work tend to prevail — especially when standing at the edge of the precipice.
It’s great seeing your fine work on Substack, Naryan!
A solid win like you described is the prescription for shrinking the Trump tumor. Maybe there’s a chance we’ll see him quarantined after the election and the courtroom trials that will inevitably follow. Napoleon was isolated on the ultra-remote island of Saint Helena. That would be a great place to house Trump for the remainder of his life, with no computers, cell phones or tablets at his disposal. He can keep himself fully occupied preparing his own meals and cleaning up after himself. If he has any time and energy available after the most basic tasks of life, he can be provided with paper and writing implements (crayons come to mind) to write his final memoirs with no ghostwriter to assist him. One wonders if his skill creating prose is anything like his prowess as a dynamic speaker. My guess is that he will be truly flummoxed proofreading his own work! Sad.
Totally agree with your conclusion: the goal is an overwhelming victory. I don't understand their playbook though: pressuring Republican state legislatures to change delegates cannot be done. If this is all they can come up with they truly do not deserve to be billionaires. But they are sure scrabbling hard to hold on to power, as you say!