Former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results are the focus of two of the four criminal indictments he is facing — one being prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the other by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for the State of Georgia. And some of Trump's allies are up against criminal charges in an election interference case being prosecuted by Arizona State Attorney General Kris Mayes, including former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis and ex-Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
But despite all those criminal indictments, many MAGA Republicans are declaring their commitment to "election integrity" — a GOP talking point that journalist Kirk Swearingen urges fellow reporters to avoid in a biting article published by Salon on May 20.
"Can journalists please stop repeating the term 'election integrity' just because Republicans insist on saying it?" Swearingen writes. "Heck, if they don't offer credible evidence — because there is none — I wouldn't even quote Republicans when they use the term, at least not without setting the record straight. Election laws being put into place in Republican-controlled states have nothing to do with integrity and everything to do with denying citizens their right to vote and intimidating election officials and volunteers."
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Swearingen warns that the "MAGA party" is using "election disinformation" and dishonest "scare tactics" in the hope of "cheating its way to permanent minority rule."
"If the idea that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election — which he won by more than 7 million votes, with a 306-232 electoral vote victory — is Trump's Big Lie, then Republican efforts to ensure 'election integrity' around the country are lies metastasizing from the malignant tumor Trump introduced into our democracy," Swearingen explains. "Trump's con about election fraud is intended to succeed where his multifaceted effort to overturn the 2020 election failed."
Swearingen emphasizes that in order to do their jobs well, journalists will need to repeatedly debunk MAGA Republicans who are making false claims of widespread voter fraud.
"Media outlets must strive not to repeat any Republican permutation of 'election integrity' and must patiently spell out the truth again and again — and then again, as tiresome as that may be," Swearingen writes. "They should also report on the larger Republican effort to undermine confidence in elections, pass more rules that make it harder for Democratic constituencies to vote and intimidate those voters who show up anyway."
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The journalist adds, "While the Biden Administration is doing what it can to promote voting, Republicans are working diligently to create the illusion that they support free and fair elections, all while creating a system of roadblocks and intimidation. They hope to create a system where voting takes place but the outcome is guaranteed."
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Kirk Swearingen's full article for Salon is available at this link.
