All opinions expressed in this article are solely the opinions of the contributors.
If for some reason you’ve decided to seek out and watch former President Donald Trump’s rallies in 2022, be aware that it’s just the same old, same old. At his first rally of the new year, in Arizona, Trump whined about the stolen election that wasn’t, insulted Democrats, claimed they’re destroying the nation one “woke” bill at a time, and also took shots at Republicans he has deemed to be unloyal. (We’re looking at you, Mitch McConnell.) So in that regard, a Trump rally seems to be just a “Greatest Hits” of grievances.
Something is different, however, and that is the underlying strategy to what’s happening. I know most people don’t see strategy as part of Donald Trump’s arsenal, but it seems clear to me he’s using these rallies for a couple of reasons, all with one singular goal: To help Trump in 2024 if he, as many believe he will, runs for president again.
First, he’s using it to attack those enemies he views within his own party who have not bent the knee to him, or have just flat-out gone against him, like Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney. By boosting primary opponents for these “RINO” Republicans, as Trump calls them, the former president is aiming to make himself the kingmaker of the party he already controls with an iron fist. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may be close to joining this list, too.
He views getting Trump supporters in office as a way to shore up his chances of winning if he runs for president again in 2024. This is of paramount importance to him, of course, because nothing matters more to Trump than Trump. This is why one of his stated goals for this year should frighten anyone who doesn’t want to see him back in the Oval Office.
Donald Trump openly said recently that one of his priorities in 2022 is to support Republican supervisors of elections. And he quoted, it’s never really clear who Trump is quoting, but Trump references that someone once said, what matters isn’t who votes, but who counts the votes. Joseph Stalin said that in 1923. I don’t know if Trump’s quoting Stalin, but it’s a very authoritarian, fascistic idea. Trump wants to get more Republican supervisors of elections because, as he says, “we wanna have the right people counting the votes.” And what that means is, instead of in Georgia in 2020, having Brad Raffensperger, a Republican secretary of state who wasn’t willing to find the 11,000 votes Trump needed to win, Trump wants to have people involved in elections at the state level that will help him get the votes he needs to win.
As I said, Trump’s rallies are going to follow the same tired script we’ve heard since 2016. But beneath all the noise and petty threats and insults lies a message that should scare Democrats. And we would be foolish not to listen.
