Analysis & Opinions - The New York Times

What Makes Trump's Subversion Efforts So Alarming? His Collaborators

| Nov. 23, 2020

The president has been trying to dismantle our shared beliefs about democracy. And now, his fellow Republicans are helping him.

Last Thursday, Rudy Giuliani, a Trump campaign lawyer, alleged a widespread voting conspiracy involving Venezuela, Cuba and China. Another lawyer, Sidney Powell, argued that Mr. Trump won in a landslide, the entire election in swing states should be overturned and the legislatures should make sure that the electors are selected for the president.

The Republican National Committee swung in to support her false claim that Mr. Trump won in a landslide, while Michigan election officials have tried to stop the certification of the vote.

It is wildly unlikely that their efforts can block Joe Biden from becoming president. But they may still do lasting damage to American democracy for a shocking reason: The moves have come from trusted insiders.

American democracy's vulnerability to disinformation has been very much in the news since the Russian disinformation campaign in 2016. The fear is that outsiders, whether they be foreign or domestic actors, will undermine our system by swaying popular opinion and election results....

Want to Read More?

The full text of this publication is available via The New York Times.
Read Full Article
For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Farrell, Henry and Bruce Schneier.“What Makes Trump's Subversion Efforts So Alarming? His Collaborators.” The New York Times, November 23, 2020.

The Authors

Henry Farrell

Recommended
In the Spotlight
RSS
A detailed look at China’s development of a hydrogen bomb in fewer than three years, quicker than all other initial nuclear weapons states.
'New Cold Wars' are “more complex, more dangerous than the old one, because China and Russia are teaming up together.”
While U.S. media reports blame Iran and its drone attacks for “pouring gasoline on a region that is already in flames,” there's a lot more to the story, and “most of it reflects poorly on the United States.”
Most Viewed

Tags