TRUMP SPOKE THE TRUTH

Most major media outlets focused on the hundreds of lies Trump spewed before he got to the truth that was the essential purpose of Thursday's nationally televised speech. After blaming his loss in 2020 on China and vigorously promoting the vote-suppressing SAVE America Act, he said this: “We're taking swift action to ensure that sensitive voter data is better protected so we can never be bought, we can never be hacked, and we can never watch a stolen election again.”

Of course, to perceive that as the truth, it has to be translated into Trumpspeak: protecting sensitive voter data means seizing ballot boxes, preventing hacking means seizing voting machines, and preventing a stolen election means never conceding defeat when Republicans lose. In his own sociopathic way, Trump told us exactly what he plans to do.

This message came shortly after two legal immigrants were murdered by ICE. It was so blatant that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a temporary pause on non-urgent ICE vehicle stops. Trump instantly overturned that order and demanded that ICE resume stops immediately. The implication is that if ICE got away with murder in Minneapolis, it can get away with it anywhere.

In May, Trump explicitly made the connection between ICE and the election. When a reporter asked him whether he would send the National Guard or ICE to polling stations, he answered, “I would do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.” You know what that means in Trumpspeak, right?

We cannot wait until autumn to mobilize. Right now, we need to urge potential voters to register by sending postcards and letters and making phone calls. On Saturday, we will go door to door in Portland's Woodstock neighborhood to establish relationships with voters so they will remember us when they receive our get-out-the-vote call in October to defend Oregon's 5th Congressional District. 

This is Our Future. Our Fight. The most effective and proven response to threats against our democracy is sustained civic engagement. Every postcard sent, every conversation held, and every voter reached strengthens our communities and helps ensure that free and fair elections remain in the hands of the people.

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The views expressed here are those of the Indivisible Oregon editorial team, one voice within a broader Indivisible movement.