Rand Paul mocked for saying Democrats stealing elections using completely legal methods

Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by freddledgruntbugly
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Kentucky senator Rand Paul was mocked on social media after he accused Democrats of “stealing elections” legally by convincing potential voters to support them.

Sharing an article from The American Conservative on how “Mark Zuckerberg’s millions and the Centre for Technology and Civic Life turned Wisconsin blue in 2020,” Mr Paul wrote: “How to steal an election.”

He then cited a paragraph from the report that suggested that Democrats planned to seed “an area heavy with potential Democratic votes with as many absentee ballots as possible, targeting and convincing potential voters to complete them in a legally valid way, and then harvesting and counting the results”.

The senator’s comment was quickly ridiculed by Twitter users, who pointed out that he had, in essence, explained the process of voting.

Jason Johnson, an American political scientist, asked if campaigning became “stealing” when a Republican loses the election.

“This is literally how elections have been legally conducted in America for half a century,” he added.

“This is what we call— wait for it— voting,” responded Georgia State Law professor Anthony Michael Kreis.

“You are really bad at democracy, Rand,” wrote Tiffany Bond, adding: “Every eligible voter should vote - vote on each issue and candidate on their merit. Have a fair fight, may the best for us all win.”

In a significant blow to former president Donald Trump, Wisconsin turned blue during the 2020 presidential elections. A year after Joe Biden won the state by a narrow margin, Wisconsin Republicans are still pushing the false claim that Democrats stole a second term from the former president.

The Republicans have been trying to discredit the bipartisan system, which comprises an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, that oversees the elections.

Meanwhile, Mr Paul was accused of hypocrisy after he asked the federal government to support any necessary disaster relief efforts for his home state due to his past obstruction of efforts to fund relief efforts elsewhere.

“The Governor of the Commonwealth has requested federal assistance this morning, and certainly further requests will be coming as the situation is assessed. I fully support those requests and ask that you move expeditiously to approve the appropriate resources for our state,” wrote Mr Paul in a letter released on his website.

ImLikeReallySmart on December 28th, 2021 at 13:05 UTC »

The headline is being generous to Rand, it's even dumber than that.

he accused Democrats of “stealing elections” legally by convincing potential voters to support them.

RockinMoe on December 28th, 2021 at 10:57 UTC »

today I stole a 6-pack by giving the cashier the appropriate amount of money for it.

earthwalker19 on December 28th, 2021 at 10:50 UTC »

Reasonable Americans believe in the principles of fair democratic representation.

Realistically going forward, fair democratic representation translates to permanent minority party status for Republicans on the national level.

Rand's tweet is seemingly absurd but is actually part of a larger push get the base to not worry so much about fair elections but rather push to install politicians that will 'uphold America's traditions'.

Of course it all goes back to Trump. He didn't invent this strategy but he did utilize it heavily and showed others the way.