Thread by @davidalanlevine

There are many folks who may be inclined to dismiss former President Trump's first rally of 2022 tonight in Arizona, but below are a number of reasons (from an election integrity perspective) why folks should be paying attention to it rather than ignoring it. 🧵

1/Today Steve Bannon declared on his podcast that the reason for this rally is to pressure the state legislature to decertify President Biden’s electors. Then, he insisted that PA, WI and GA would file suit, making Biden an “illegitimate president” going into the midterms.

2/To be clear, there is no legal process for carrying out such a plot, but that's perhaps of little comfort to many when considering what has already transpired in response to the lies about #election2020.

3/A recent NPR/Ipsos poll found that 64% of Americans believe U.S. democracy is "in crisis and at risk of failing." And among its Republican respondents, 2 out of 3 believe the false claim that "voter fraud helped Joe Biden win the 2020 election".

4/Will Trump be able to use tonight's rally to further consolidate support, particularly among Republicans, around the false assertion that #election2020 was stolen from him?

5/AZ's Republican primary for the Senate race could be a decent bellwether for this. It has candidates who falsely believe Trump won as well as AG Mark Brnovich, who initially defended #election2020. AZ Gov. Ducey, who also defended the results, could also jump into the race.

6/As challenges to #election2020 have continued, the evidence has only grown that the election was free & fair. In the rare instance when a review has allegedly documented serious issues, it's often been quickly rebutted, like in Maricopa County, AZ. recorder.maricopa.gov/justthefacts/p…

7/What will Trump and #election2020 deniers say in response to the latest efforts reaffirming the legitimacy of 2020? AZ's review reaffirmed #election2020. TX's review thus far hasn't uncovered anything of note, nor have reviews elsewhere in places like MI, PA, TX, and WI.

8/Beyond #election2020, there's also real concern about what the lies at his rally could inspire in the way of legislation that limits voter access and threatens the integrity of vote counting.

9/E.g., in AZ, the legislature passed 3 restrictive voting bills in 2021 and have pre-filed at least one 2022 bill that would impose stricter ID requirements. They also introduced 3 bills in 2021 that would have empowered partisan officials to reject/overturn election results.

10/The lies the former President is continuing to espouse about #election2020 are fueling threats against election officials, inspiring legislation that makes it harder to conduct free and fair elections, and undermining trust in American democracy.

11/Trump's efforts to subvert #election2020 could very well be child's play compared to what's in store for future elections. Those who know the truth need to consider what's at stake and redouble their efforts to protect American democracy.

12/Vote and serve as a pollworker. Where actual vulnerabilities exist, help mitigate them. For example, support legislation likes efforts to further clarify the Electoral Act so that the will of the people isn't subverted, or evidence-based audits to validate electoral outcomes.

13/A healthy democracy is one in which the interests of free and fair elections must always trump partisan interests. To say otherwise is to be at odds with genuine democracy no matter what anyone at a rally might tell you.