Connect with us

Elections

Rand Paul: ‘The fraud happened. The election in many ways was stolen’

Published

on

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at Wednesday’s U.S. Senate hearing examining irregularities during 2020 presidential election claimed that “fraud happened” and that the election “in many ways was stolen.”

More from the hearing: Sen. Ron Johnson says hyper partisanship and media suppression affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election

This Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing comes after the Electoral College on Monday voted, making President-elect Joe Biden‘s victory official, and after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and many other top Senate Republicans congratulated the president-elect following Monday’s vote. President Donald Trump refuses to concede the election and continues to claim that the election was stolen from him.

RELATED: McConnell congratulates Biden on election victory, draws criticism from some conservatives

The hearing’s top witness was Chris Krebs, who served as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and oversaw the United States’ election security for the 2020 presidential election. President Trump controversially fired Krebs because he disagreed with the president on the prevalence of election fraud, even having created a CISA website for the purpose of debunking election disinformation.

“The fraud happened. The election in many ways was stolen,” the Kentucky Republican claimed. “And the only way it’ll be fixed is by, in the future, reinforcing the laws.”

“But I think [Kreb’s] job was keeping the foreigners out of the election. It was the most secure election based on the security of the internet and technology, but he has never voiced an opinion […] on whether or not dead people voted—I don’t think he examined that,” Paul said toward the end of his speaking time, then questioning if Krebs examined non-citizens’ voting.

Many Republicans, in alleging that widespread election fraud occurred in the 2020 election, have often cited claims that a lot of dead people and non-citizens voted. The over 50 lawsuits challenging the results of the election in certain swing states alleging election fraud have overwhelmingly failed in the courts.

“So to say it was the safest election—sure, I agree with your statement if you’re referring to foreign intervention,” Paul continued. “But if you’re saying it’s the safest election based on no dead people voted, no non-citizens voted, no people broke the absentee [ballot] rules, I think that’s false and I think that’s what’s upset a lot of people on our side is that they’re taking your statement to mean ‘Oh, there were no problems in the elections.'”

“I don’t think you examined any of the problems that we’ve heard here,” he added, “so really you’re just referring to something differently, the way I look at it.”

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

Continue Reading

Elections

Kamala Harris Faces Setback as Gen Z, Women Under 30 Shift Support to Donald Trump

Published

on

In a surprising outcome of the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign suffered a stinging loss in support from young Gen Z women, a demographic long considered safe for the Democratic Party. Exit polling by AP reveals a significant shift: 40 percent of women under 30 cast their ballots for President-elect Donald Trump, a seven-point increase from the 2020 election. Among the youngest voters, aged 18 to 24, Trump saw an 11-point gain over his 2020 race against Joe Biden.

Despite liberal media blaming Harris’ loss on white males, Breitbart reports that the swing of women played a crucial role in Trump’s broader success with voters under 30, securing him the largest share of this demographic that any Republican candidate has achieved since 2008. In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton held a commanding 19-point lead with young voters, which Biden stretched to 25 points in 2020. Under Harris, however, that gap dwindled to a mere six points, marking a substantial erosion of Democratic support among younger Americans.

Harris made concerted efforts to connect with Gen Z female voters. She embraced cultural phenomena like “brat summer,” appeared on the popular ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast, and garnered endorsements from major music icons including Charli XCX, Taylor Swift, and Beyoncé. Her campaign leveraged social media, where Harris cultivated a persona as “Momala” and created TikTok videos featuring Chappell Roan’s hit song “Femininomenon.” Harris’s TikTok success translated into 448 million “likes,” far outpacing Trump’s 102 million. But while she dominated on social media, the online popularity failed to translate into votes.

Psychotherapist and author Jonathan Alpert wasn’t surprised by Trump’s gains among young women. “There’s an assumption made about Gen Z—that simply being young and female means a natural alignment with the Democratic candidate,” he told *DailyMail.com*. “Many told me they felt unsafe in Biden and Harris’s America and wanted a change.”

Business analyst and political commentator Nadja Atwal shared similar observations, noting that young voters didn’t connect with Harris’s campaign despite its efforts to speak their language. “Many felt it was not relatable,” she said. “While economic indicators may look good on paper, high costs have made it challenging for people to make a living. Many Gen Z voters felt that Harris’s campaign didn’t address this issue enough.”

Atwal also suggested that Harris’s reliance on celebrity endorsements may have backfired. “Many young people felt downright insulted by the Harris campaign banking on star power,” she explained. “It does not resonate to see Hollywood and music stars with bodyguards and gated mansions endorsing a candidate. Trump’s campaign, on the other hand, emphasized working-class values, with appearances in relatable settings like McDonald’s or garbage trucks, which came across as cool and accessible.”

Trump also targeted Gen Z through platforms more popular with young men, including appearances on podcasts with Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and the Nelk Boys. His 18-year-old son, Barron, reportedly advised him on how to appeal to the younger demographic, and Trump saw a 15-point increase among men under 30, with 56 percent supporting him over Harris.

Turnout among young voters was around 42 percent, slightly down from the 50 percent turnout in 2020 but comparable to the 2016 election. As Democrats review the election results, the loss of Gen Z support—and particularly young women—has become a major talking point and a clear signal that economic concerns, safety, and authenticity were paramount for many young voters this election cycle.

Continue Reading

Trending