After Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020, Republicans in several states created forged election materials, pretending to be “duly elected and qualified electors,” and sent the documents to, among others, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Archivist, as if the fake materials were legitimate. They were not.
These Republicans came to be known as their party’s “fake electors.” The larger criminal scandal surrounding their scheme has racked up indictment totals unseen since Watergate and Iran-Contra.
With this in mind, it’s tempting to think that GOP officials would feel a degree of embarrassment about the entire controversy. Indeed, common sense might suggest that the recent indictments against fake electors would make these Republicans politically radioactive.
Apparently, it’s not quite working out that way.
We learned in May, for example, that several fake electors in Nevada were elected to serve as delegates to the Republican National Convention, even after they were criminally charged. “Clearly, lessons learned,” The Nevada Independent’s Jon Ralston said sarcastically in response to the news.
A month earlier, state prosecutors in Arizona indicted 18 Republicans as part of the party’s fake elector scheme, resulting in allegations of conspiracy, fraud and forgery. Some of them will be convention delegates, too. After the state GOP made the decision, The Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts summarized in a column: “The Arizona Republican Party on Saturday sent a flat out, full-throated, flabbergasting message to the voters of this great state. We be crazy, they proclaimed.”
Nevertheless, those delegates apparently have some company. CNN reported this week:
Seven battleground states are sending fake electors and others who worked to upend the 2020 election results to represent their state parties at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where they will officially anoint Donald Trump as their presidential nominee. The fake electors and other election deniers identified by CNN include several who are currently facing criminal charges for their efforts in helping Trump try to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
According to CNN’s report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, the delegates will represent key battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin. It’s worth emphasizing that not all of the fake electors who’ll serve as convention delegates are currently under criminal indictment — but some are, and the party doesn’t seem to care. Indeed, CNN’s report added, “Their role underscores how Trump has effectively woven election denialism into the GOP’s platform.” The same piece quoted former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger as saying, “Election denialism is like the price of entry now. … These people that were in the fake elector scheme, or got a mug shot, they’re now the heroes of the movement, and they’ve taken over the party.” As the indictments piled up, it seemed implausible that GOP officials would extend rewards to those who were caught serving as fake electors. And yet, here we are.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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