The GOP Has Accepted Need for Mail-In Ballots. But Not the Republican Who Matters Most.

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Former President Donald Trump has continued to rail against voting by mail despite a growing Republican consensus that the party must embrace the practice to stay competitive.

SO WHAT

Republicans are getting tired of losing.

WHAT HAPPENED

In a series of posts to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump urged his followers to never accept mail-in ballots, calling them a “total SCAM.”

“REMEMBER, YOU CAN NEVER HAVE FAIR & FREE ELECTIONS WITH MAIL-IN BALLOTS – NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. WON’T AND CAN’T HAPPEN!!!” Trump truthed.

  • Trump decried expanded use of mail-in ballots in the run-up to the 2020 election and has since blamed them for his defeat, pointing to unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud.

OK, BUT

There has been a major vibe shift among Republicans following the GOP’s disappointing performance in the midterm elections earlier this month.

(Source: U.S. Census, Survey of the Performance of American Elections. Chart: FiveThirtyEight)

Even some leading “MAGA” Republicans have started calling for the party to embrace voting by mail, which has exploded in prevalence since 2018.

  • “In a 180-degree turn, Republicans are adopting the Democratic strategy for winning elections in states where mail-in voting, ballot curing and ballot harvesting are legal,” Natalia Mittelstadt reported last week for Just the News, a right-leaning outlet founded by former Fox News contributor John Solomon.
  • “Republicans have repeatedly sounded the alarm over universal mail-in voting, ballot curing and ballot harvesting because of the heightened possibility for fraud, but as Democrats have used these methods to help their candidates win elections, the GOP is belatedly accepting that they must play the same game.”

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk vowed earlier this month to “build the most sophisticated and aggressive legal ballot harvesting operation in America.”

  • “The House of Representatives is GOP-controlled thanks to how we performed in states with the most liberal ballot harvesting and vote by mail laws — New York, Oregon, California. We can master this system. Democrats are praying that we refuse to try,” tweeted Kirk, a staunch Trump ally.
By We'll Do It Live