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In the midst of a crucial week for the former president over his role in the January 6 Capitol attack and his tax returns, Donald Trump has doubled down on his "Big Lie"—the widely debunked conspiracy theory claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Writing on his official Truth Social account on Tuesday (one day after the January 6 committee called for criminal charges against the former president for trying to overturn the 2020 election) Trump insisted that President Joe Biden isn't the rightful leader of the country and the government should be overthrown.
Starting from a quote by conservative pundit Jesse Watters saying that "the FBI and Twitter COLLUDED to elect Joe Biden," Trump reiterates that "the 2020 Presidential Election was RIGGED & STOLEN," he wrote.
"It all began a long time ago, they SPIED on my campaign, and tried to 'RIGG' the 2016 Election, but failed. Remember, our government is doing this, not a person or party," Trump wrote.
"What should be done about such a terrible thing, or should we let someone who was elected by cheating and fraud stay in office and continue to destroy our Country?"
After irrefutably losing the 2020 presidential election to Biden, Trump promoted baseless allegations claiming that the election had been marred by voting irregularities and fraud aimed at robbing him of a second term in office.
The resultant conspiracy theory—and all the smaller fact-free allegations that came with it—was then pushed by MAGA Republicans and Trump supporters, taking a life of its own online and in U.S. politics.
The single most consequential event to come out of the conspiracy theory around the 2020 presidential election is possibly the January 6 riot, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, vandalizing and looting the building, in an attempt to keep Trump in power and prevent Congress from formalizing Biden's victory.
On Monday, the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol accused Trump of fomenting the insurrection and conspiring against the government in an attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 election, and referred the former president to the justice department to face criminal charges.
The January 6 committee's decision came at the end of an 18-month investigation and high-profile hearings in a case that had seen the panel try to understand Trump's role into the Capitol riots.
"The committee believes that more than sufficient evidence exists for a criminal referral of former President Trump for assisting or aiding and comforting those at the Capitol who engaged in a violent attack on the United States," Congressman Jamie Raskin said on Monday.
"The committee has developed significant evidence that President Trump intended to disrupt the peaceful transition of power under our Constitution. The president has an affirmative and primary constitutional duty to act to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Nothing could be a greater betrayal of this duty than to assist in insurrection against the constitutional order."
The committee accused the former president of breaching four federal criminal statutes, including inciting insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of an act of Congress.
To this day, despite claims that the 2020 election was in any way stolen or rigged having been proven false, Trump continues to claim that he beat Biden two years ago.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more