Why It’s So Hard To Disprove The Big Lie

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Months before the 2020 election, President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that the only way he could lose to Joe Biden would be if the Democrats rigged the election. Once it became clear that he had lost, Trump concluded that the Democrats did indeed steal the election, and urged his legions of avid followers to “Stop the steal!”

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Stop The Steal: Trump's Unceasing Battle Cry

The only problem was that he and his clown-carful of lawyers could not produce a shred of credible evidence to present in the more than fifty legal cases that they initiated. Virtually all these cases were dismissed. Even Trump-appointed judges laughed them out of court.

In the meanwhile, on virtually a daily basis, Trump would proclaim the election had been stolen from him by unscrupulous Democratic election officials as well as the two companies that had supplied most of the voting machines – and even Hugo Chavez, the late Venezuelan dictator, who had died in 2013.

“Stop the Steal” became Trump’s unceasing battle cry, echoed mindlessly by millions of his adoring followers. Repeated again and again – just like the Big Lie that Hitler’s followers spread during his rise to power in Germany -- it became the gospel truth for three quarters of registered Republican voters.

How can the Democrats disprove this outrageous lie? Despite their best efforts, they have made little headway over the last twelve months. Even though Trump’s outrageous contentions have been thoroughly debunked by most of the major TV networks and print media outlets, few of the hearts and minds of Trump’s base were changed by these facts.

In general, it’s much harder to prove that an event did take place than that it did not. For example, suppose you are accused of having baked an apple pie last night. You could easily prove that you did bake the pie by having three ardent Trump supporters witness your assembling the ingredients, rolling the dough, and then putting the pan onto the oven and later taking out.

But proving you did not bake an apple pie last night would require finding at least three “Stop the Steal” advocates to swear that they were with you all night and never saw you bake an apple pie.

Countering The False Accusations

OK, so Trump claims thousands of Democratic election officials stole the election from him. How can they prove that they didn’t? How would you prove your innocence if you were in their shoes?

What can the Democrats do to counter the “Stop the Steal” barrage of false accusations. I would suggest that instead of trying to debunk each charge, why not try going on the offensive?

Why not issue a counter demand to “Stop the Steal?” Just ask these purveyors of the Big Lie to show us their proof that the election was indeed stolen. I think that chanting “Show us your proof!” would do the job.