It’s obvious that many Americans believe that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged,” marred by “massive fraud,” and was stolen from Donald Trump, who “clearly” was the true winner.
It’s also obvious that numerous Americans believe all this despite the absence of any evidence. Trump and his allies initiated some 60 lawsuits trying to overturn the results of the election. Of those some 60 lawsuits only one was successful, and it was only successful on a procedural issue.
So why do so many Americans believe the election was stolen despite being unable to provide any evidence to support that belief beyond “everyone knows” or “there are so many allegations, it must be true”? And why do so many continue to believe and protest a “stolen election” despite the findings, confirmations, and certifications to the contrary? In some contested states the results were counted two and three times with no change in the outcome.
The answer is relatively simple: they were presented with the “Big Lie” by the President: he had actually won the election, but it was stolen. And his supporters believed him.
Having once accepted the “Big Lie,” they became increasingly trapped in and consumed by a whirlpool of self-fulfilling but flawed reasoning based on “all those allegations.” “All those allegations” arose from the initial lie which led to further allegations which led to the “but all the allegations, it must be true” argument.
As others have pointed out, it is reminiscent of the old joke about the young man who murdered his parents and then pleaded for mercy because he was an orphan.
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