Since the night of the general election, it seems anyone who questions the results of the presidency is targeted by major media outlets as a conspiracy theorist, shamed on social media platforms and outed in news outlets as some sort of quack.

It’s a strategy that is extraordinarily effective and they have used it on everyone, including highly respected prosecutors, supporters of President Donald Trump and anyone who challenges the reporting of elitist Washington D.C. insiders.

The shaming, combined with the gaslighting of the American public is a weapon used by opponents of Trump and it has proven highly successful in keeping many people from speaking publicly about their concerns regarding the election.

I mean, they’ve already set the standard with the well-known and highly successful attorneys representing Trump, like Jenna Ellis and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But no one has been targeted more viciously than Sidney Powell, who has filed several election lawsuits targeting the very questionable Dominion Voting Systems software used in 27 states, along with other irregularities. Of course, the company has denied all allegations against it but why is the media so intent on shaming this well respected prosecutor?

Just take a look at the headlines this weekend: The Washington Post, For Trump advocate Sidney Powell, a playbook steeped in conspiracy theories; Business Insider, Meet Sidney Powell, the former federal prosecutor turned conspiracy theorist who’s fueling baseless claims about election fraud, and so many more just like them.

The majority of media outlets have already settled comfortably with the idea that former Vice President Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. If anyone questions the election or the outcome called by the major media outlets, ‘God help them’ because they will be ostracized and publicly shamed.

So where does that leave the rest of America? Where does that leave the 73 million plus who voted for Trump and is now wondering if there may have been fraud?

Well, if the punishment could be public shaming and who wants to be lumped in as a conspiracy theorist.

The media has been pushing a massive anti-Trump agenda since he came into office. Many news outlets, like CNN and MSNBC, worked diligently to vilify Trump daily – targeting his family, friends and those who supported him. Because of that many Americans became a silent majority – willing to support the president but not always showing that support overtly. Many, who were consumed by the media hate everyday decided it was better to keep their political beliefs silent. That’s the unfortunate result of what happened to our nation over the past four years.

But now after the election the tens-of-millions that wanted President Trump back in office for a second term are perplexed that he has lost. They are questioning the strangeness of an election that showed a surge never seen for a Republican candidate in recent memory, dissipate in the early morning hours when a surge of unsuspecting votes in certain states, like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia came in for former Vice President Joe Biden on Nov. 4.

Maybe, it’s all legitimate. But it’s our duty – and frankly the duty of the media – to question everything. The major media outlets should be at the front of the line combining through all the allegations of irregularities and shouldn’t be used as a tool by the government to shame anyone who does.

Patrick Basham, a pollster with the CATO Institute, published an opinion editorial in The Spectator that sums up the reasons we all should be concerned about this general election. It’s titled “Reasons why the 2020 presidential election is deeply puzzling. If only cranks find the tabulations strange, put me down as a crank.”

President Trump received more votes than any previous incumbent seeking reelection. He got 11 million more votes than in 2016, the third largest rise in support ever for an incumbent. By way of comparison, President Obama was comfortably reelected in 2012 with 3.5 million fewer votes than he received in 2008.

Trump’s vote increased so much because, according to exit polls, he performed far better with many key demographic groups. Ninety-five percent of Republicans voted for him. He did extraordinarily well with rural male working-class whites.He earned the highest share of all minority votes for a Republican since 1960. Trump grew his support among black voters by 50 percent over 2016. Nationally, Joe Biden’s black support fell well below 90 percent, the level below which Democratic presidential candidates usually lose.

Trump increased his share of the national Hispanic vote to 35 percent. With 60 percent or less of the national Hispanic vote, it is arithmetically impossible for a Democratic presidential candidate to win Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Bellwether states swung further in Trump’s direction than in 2016. Florida, Ohio and Iowa each defied America’s media polls with huge wins for Trump. Since 1852, only Richard Nixon has lost the electoral college after winning this trio, and that 1960 defeat to John F. Kennedy is still the subject of great suspicion.

Patrick Basham, CATO Institute

I suggest you read the full opinion editorial at The Spectator and then ask yourself why the media, which should be a watchdog against government corruption isn’t investigating these anomalies.

You can follow Sara A Carter on Parler @SaraCarterOfficial or on Twitter @SaraCarterDC