{"id":2245866,"date":"2024-05-16T11:30:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T15:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/corporate-media-want-you-to-equate-questioning-the-integrity-of-elections-with-violence\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T11:34:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T15:34:16","slug":"corporate-media-want-you-to-equate-questioning-the-integrity-of-elections-with-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/corporate-media-want-you-to-equate-questioning-the-integrity-of-elections-with-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate media aims to link election integrity questioning with violence"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcorporate-media-want-you-to-equate-questioning-the-integrity-of-elections-with-violence%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2245866&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Washington Post &#038; Politico linked Republican election scrutiny\u2064 to violence,\u2063 justifying DOJ&#8217;s election interference.\u2062 Philip Bump warned\u2064 about \u2062the &#8220;violent\u2064 threat of election denialism,&#8221; \u200dblaming Trump for promoting doubts. Politico&#8217;s Josh Gerstein hinted at emotions\u200d stirred by a Trump-Biden rematch.\u200b Both articles addressed election threats prompted\u2064 by DOJ&#8217;s Election Threats \u2063Task Force. The narrative discourages election scrutiny \u2063to prevent misuse.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>The Washington Post and Politico released stories this week that appeared to purposefully equate Republicans\u2019 questioning of questionable elections with violent election-related threats, a tactic used to justify the expansion of the weaponized Department of Justice\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/23\/8-gop-states-and-counting-ban-bidens-doj-from-intimidating-voters-at-2024-polls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">election meddling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Post\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/05\/14\/ongoing-violent-threat-election-denialism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Philip Bump<\/a> wrote about the \u201congoing violent threat of election denialism\u201d in a piece published Tuesday, which began with four dramatic anecdotes about threats toward election workers. He pins the blame for these threats very clearly on the fact that \u201cTrump and his allies energetically promote the idea either that fraud occurred or that it might have.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-903028068\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-782b4480ceac780f59ce7a9fe5a0818a fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-782b4480ceac780f59ce7a9fe5a0818a\"><\/div>\n<p>Troubled people will take Trump\u2019s concerns about election integrity \u201cdangerously seriously,\u201d Bump warned, as he suggested they would have no reason to act out over election results \u201cexcept that there was a broad effort by Trump and his enablers to present such results as nebulous and suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, in a piece all about \u201celection-related threats,\u201d Politico\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/05\/13\/justice-department-election-threat-technology-00157686#:~:text=With%20a%20close%2Dfought%20presidential,artificial%20intelligence%20and%20other%20digital\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Josh Gerstein<\/a> wedged in a comment about how a Trump-Biden \u201crematch could stir up emotions particularly among Americans who falsely believe the 2020 election was stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both pieces were inspired by Attorney General Merrick Garland\u2019s comments Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/speech\/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-delivers-remarks-election-threats-task-force-meeting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">discussing<\/a> the DOJ\u2019s Election Threats Task Force, which supposedly exists to tackle an alleged \u201cincrease in threats against election workers, officials, and volunteers that followed the 2020 election.\u201d <\/p>\n[[<strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/26\/associated-press-admits-new-indictments-are-campaign-to-deter-gop-from-questioning-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Associated Press Admits New Indictments Are \u2018Campaign\u2019 To \u2018Deter\u2019 GOP From Questioning Elections<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a61c711b321f410bc739001c3c50f2a0 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a61c711b321f410bc739001c3c50f2a0\"><\/div>\n<p>The message is clear: we can\u2019t have people asking questions about the vulnerabilities in our election administration, because somebody else might use it as an excuse to do something bad.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the same ridiculous rationale the Biden DOJ is using in its lawfare against Trump over his speech on Jan. 6, by the way. The then-president gave a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/02\/10\/966396848\/read-trumps-jan-6-speech-a-key-part-of-impeachment-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">speech<\/a> in which he alleged the 2020 election was \u201cstolen\u201d and addressed supporters who would \u201csoon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.\u201d Because some of those supporters made their way into the Capitol building while Congress was preparing to vote to certify the election, the DOJ has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/08\/02\/doj-indictment-of-trump-is-a-declaration-of-war-against-american-voters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">charged<\/a> Trump with obstruction of an official proceeding.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of the First Amendment\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ohio-professor-who-refused-to-use-students-preferred-pronouns-can-sue-university-after-being-disciplined-federal-appeals-court-rules\/\" title=\"Ohio Professor Who Refused To Use Student\u2019s Preferred Pronouns Can Sue University After Being Disciplined, Federal Appeals Court Rules\">free speech clause<\/a> is to prohibit the criminalization of such speech. Yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/another-democrat-narrative-goes-up-in-flames-ex-capitol-police-chief-steven-sund-says-he-had-intel-antifa-was-part-of-the-january-6-attack-video\/\" title=\"Another Democrat Narrative Goes up in Flames \u2013 Ex-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund Says He Had Intel Antifa Was Part of the January 6 Attack (VIDEO)\">leftist agitators<\/a> want to <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/education\/4032778-your-speech-is-violence-the-lefts-new-mantra-to-justify-campus-violence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">characterize<\/a> speech they don\u2019t like as violence itself \u2014 from the use of accurate <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/19\/biden-admins-title-ix-rewrite-obliterates-female-spaces-free-speech-and-due-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pronouns<\/a> to legitimate concerns about election administration. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">There Are Legitimate Concerns to Be Had Over 2020<\/h2>\n<p>Bump insists that those who questioned the results of the 2020 election have not \u201cidentified a mechanism by which\u201d the alleged fraud \u201ccould have happened in a a practical sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-08b155f701365556f412ea67151c5c68 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-08b155f701365556f412ea67151c5c68\"><\/div>\n<p>First of all, it doesn\u2019t matter from a First Amendment perspective if allegations of election fraud are true or not \u2014 speech doesn\u2019t have to be factually provable to be protected. But second, there <em>were<\/em> plentiful instances of shady election administration in 2020. <\/p>\n<p>There were ballot issues, such as in Fulton County, Georgia. Just last week, the State Election Board <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/09\/board-refuses-to-have-fulton-county-investigated-for-double-scanning-3000-ballots-in-2020-recount\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">acknowledged<\/a> that Fulton County scanned more than 3,000 ballots twice during its recount of the 2020 presidential election, and mandated oversight of the county\u2019s future elections by an independent monitor. Board member Janice Johnston also said during the hearing that there are 380,761 ballot images from the 2020 Election Day machine count that are unavailable. The findings came four years after two Republican members of the Fulton County Elections Board did not vote to certify the results due to concerns about how the county was conducting its election.<\/p>\n<p>Another irregularity in the 2020 election was the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/13\/wisconsins-left-led-supreme-court-could-bring-back-illegal-widespread-ballot-drop-boxes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">illegal expansion<\/a> of ballot drop boxes in places like Wisconsin. Wisconsin\u2019s Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that unelected officials did not have the authority to usurp the state legislature and unilaterally change election laws as the Wisconsin Elections Commission did in 2020. The Wisconsin Elections Commission issued guidance expanding ballot drop boxes, contrary to <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.legis.wisconsin.gov\/statutes\/statutes\/6\/iv\/87\/4\/b\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">state law<\/a> that stipulated absentee ballots \u201cshall be mailed by the elector, or delivered in person, to the municipal clerk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leftist election meddler Marc Elias brought a challenge to the ruling recently after Democrats narrowly flipped the balance of the bench last year. <\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s Pennsylvania, where the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/30\/court-stands-by-decision-rejecting-undated-pennsylvania-mail-ballots-in-blow-to-left-wing-activists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">courts ruled<\/a> this year that unelected bureaucrats were wrong to accept thousands of incorrectly dated or undated mail ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Or take Arizona, where the number of people who voted via federal ballot \u2014 the ballot provided to voters who can\u2019t provide proof of citizenship \u2014 was greater than Biden\u2019s margin of victory. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/01\/court-affirms-arizonas-need-to-keep-noncitizens-off-voter-rolls-but-makes-it-harder-to-do-so\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Arizona<\/a> requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/with-another-election-coming-up-in-days-georgia-is-still-a-mess-with-the-same-players-running-the-same-processes\/\" title=\"With Another Election Coming Up in Days, Georgia Is Still a Mess with the Same Players Running the Same Processes\">state elections<\/a>. A 2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/tucson.com\/news\/state-regional\/government-politics\/arizona-presidential-election-2024-2020-citizenship-proof-court-ruling\/article_88b82350-534e-11ee-b710-d7c5a62895a8.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">consent decree<\/a> forced the state to register voters as \u201cfederal only\u201d voters if they failed to prove their citizenship while applying via state registration.<\/p>\n<p>During the 2018 midterm roughly <a href=\"https:\/\/azmirror.com\/briefs\/few-voters-use-federal-only-ballots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1,700<\/a> people in Arizona \u2014 a border state grappling with mass illegal immigration \u2014 voted via a federal-only ballot. That number ballooned to 11,600 in 2020, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/azfreenews.com\/2021\/09\/over-11600-no-proof-of-citizenship-required-federal-ballots-cast-in-2020-election\/\">AZ Free News<\/a>. Biden won the state by 10,457 votes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9a8dbc45971cba0337317121bbce5a41 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9a8dbc45971cba0337317121bbce5a41\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, The Washington Post and Politico stories seemed to deliberately connect Republican election scrutiny with election-related violence, potentially justifying the DOJ&#8217;s election interference. Philip Bump from The Post discussed the &#8220;persistent threat of election denialism&#8221; in his recent article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2245867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/50564517847_341add3e43_k-e1715803297146.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2245866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/50564517847_341add3e43_k-e1715803297146.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2245866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2245867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2245866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2245866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2245866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}