Democrats are preparing a quick response that will flood social media and the media with calls for calm and patience regarding vote counting if Donald Trump tries to declare an election victory early, as he did in 2020, Kamala Harris campaign officials told Reuters.
The Republican candidate told reporters this week that he hoped to be able to declare victory on Election Day, although election experts warned that it could be several days before the final result is known, especially if there are requests for recounts in key areas. Trump is in a tight race with Democratic rival Kamala Harris ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The winners of US elections are usually announced by mainstream media outlets that analyze vote counts submitted by election officials. Although candidates sometimes declare victory before media announcements, it is unusual for this to happen before the winner is at least somewhat clear, according to Reuters.
"Unfortunately, we're ready if he does that, and if we know he's actually manipulating the media and trying to manipulate the consensus of the American people ... we're ready to respond," Harris said in an interview with ABC on Wednesday.
She did not reveal details of the preparations, but six Democratic Party officials and the Harris campaign said the initial fight against any premature claims of victory by Trump would be played in the court of public opinion. They plan to flood social media and TV with demands that all votes be counted before victory is declared.
"As soon as he (Trump) falsely declares victory, we're ready to go on TV and tell the truth, using a wide network of people who can use their influence to counter it," said one senior Democratic National Committee official.
A senior campaign official for Kamala Harris told reporters today that they "fully expect" Trump to falsely declare victory Tuesday night, before all the votes are counted.
"He already tried that, but it didn't work. If he does it again, he won't succeed," the official said.
In 2020, Trump declared himself the winner in the early morning hours after Election Day, three days before the first television networks announced the result. He ended up losing to Democratic opponent Joe Biden. He has never accepted the result and continues to claim that his victory was stolen by massive fraud.
His key ally Steve Bannon said Trump should quickly declare victory.
"He should stand up and say, 'Hey, I won,'" Bannon told a New York Times reporter Tuesday, shortly after he was released from a federal prison where he had served four months for refusing a congressional subpoena in connection with the Sept. 6 attacks. January 2021 at the US Capitol.
Trump's campaign told Reuters the Republican nominee would fight for all the votes until the polls close, but did not directly respond to a question about whether Trump plans to declare victory again before the race is officially over.
One Trump donor, Bill Bean, who is occasionally critical of the former president, told Reuters he hoped Harris or Trump would win by a landslide so that the result would be as widely accepted as possible.
There is no Republican barrier
Trump's declaration of victory in 2020 was condemned by Democrats and many prominent Republicans. Markets reacted calmly, with major stock indexes rising slightly in the days following the election.
Reuters writes that this time it could be different.
The former president, meanwhile, has consolidated near-total control of the Republican Party, meaning many influential conservatives may be more willing to back his claims, according to several political strategists.
"We've seen a lot of evidence that he's in total control of the party ... and we've seen no evidence that party officials or elected representatives will push back," said Chip Felkel, a longtime Republican strategist critical of Trump.
Trump and his Republican allies also spent months preparing the ground to challenge the defeat, arguing that non-citizens might try to vote Democratic and preparing an army of lawyers to go to court to challenge the results.
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