Trump, MAGA already pushing conspiracies about Michigan mail voting 

It didn’t take long after polls closed in Michigan Tuesday evening for President Donald Trump and prominent MAGA figures to start spreading false claims of mail voter fraud. 

Early Wednesday morning, before the Democratic Senate primary election was called, Trump jumped on social media to suggest fraudulent mail ballots would push Rep. Haley Stevens — the establishment-backed candidate he falsely called a “Radical Left Socialist” — into a victory over the progressive candidate, Abdul El-Sayed — whom he mislabeled as a communist. 

“The Radical Left Socialist has a real shot, and don’t discount all of those fake mail-in ballots that will ‘surprisingly’ show up at the last moment,” Trump said. “Get ready for another Rigged Election.”

Now, the Senate matchup between El-Sayed and the GOP’s nominee — the Trump-backed former U.S. congressman and election denier Mike Rogers — is poised to be one of the most closely watched races in November’s midterm elections. If El-Sayed wins in the crucial battleground state, it will be a key victory in Democrats’ attempt to flip the Senate. 

So it’s no surprise the president and prominent election deniers are already planting the seeds of a voting conspiracy to lean on if El-Sayed beats Rogers. 

“Wayne County (Detroit) in Michigan is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the United States, if not the World,” Trump said on social media. “It is strictly Third World! Miracles happen in Wayne County, including more votes being cast than there are voters, by a lot.”

In fact, there was nothing miraculous about the outcome.

El-Sayed narrowly beat Stevens by less than 20,000 votes. The race was much closer than most polls leading up to the election predicted. But for a few hours after polls closed Tuesday, El-Sayed had a significant lead over Stevens, until mail ballots from key districts were counted and overwhelmingly favored the four-term congresswoman.

That dynamic — mail ballots closing an election gap — is nothing new and a normal part of American elections. But that has never stopped election deniers from repeatedly claiming that it’s indisputable evidence of fraud — and it didn’t stop them this time. 

“Dem establishment cheating its ass off in the mail to save themselves from the DSA pick,” the anti-voting activist Seth Keshel said on social media Tuesday evening as votes were still being tallied. “It’s one thing to try and sell me on a +53% mail margin in a D vs R race. Don’t try me on D vs D.”

Sean Spicer, who served as press secretary during Trump’s first term, similarly suggested the Democratic establishment would try to rig the vote to help Stevens win.

“Anyone want to bet that when the mail in ballots come in in Michigan there will be a HUGE surge for Haley Stevens?” he said. 

If you feel like you’re having déjà vu, you aren’t: In June, Trump and the GOP made similar, evidence-free claims that there was mass mail voter fraud in California’s primary elections. 

Much like in the Golden State, these false claims of rigged mail voting in Michigan’s primary set the stage for Republicans to undermine the election results in November.