People are scattered, and the team is not easy to lead.
Today, Trump is hit again: William Barr, who was once the “most loyal ally” and the current U.S. Attorney General, has “mutied”!
“So far, we have not found any massive fraud that is enough to change the election results.” On December 1, Barr announced the big news, which is obviously the last result Trump, who still refuses to admit defeat.
Former fans suddenly turned their guns. Western media generally believed that it was a signal that Republicans, especially key members of the Trump administration, wanted to “demarcate” from Trump, while experts believed that “continue to support Trump is too risky and costly for Barr”.
“Iron Fan” mutiny
Nearly a month after the 2020 U.S. election day, the team of “abandon Trump” is expanding day by day, and the current U.S. Attorney General Barr has also joined in with the flow, starting to refute Trump’s allegations of “election fraud”.
Barr has always been Trump’s most loyal ally. Trump is the only one who is on the lead and has been on the same side with Trump on many controversial issues.
Previously, after the “Russia” incident, Barr publicly supported Trump and the campaign for not to Russia in the 2016 election. Just after the 2020 election day, Barr also authorized federal prosecutors to investigate allegations of voting violations, which is considered an “assistance” for Trump.
However, in just one month, Barr’s attitude suddenly reversed by 360 degrees.
On December 1st local time, Barr said in an interview with the Associated Press that after about a month of investigation, U.S. prosecutors and FBI personnel have been following up on the specific complaints and information they have received, but they have found no evidence of fraud that can reverse the election results.
“There is a claim of systemic fraud that the machine has been programmed to distort election results, which has been investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, and so far, no evidence has been seen to confirm this.” Barr also responded to Trump campaign lawyer Sydney Powell’s remarks that the election system tampered with the results.
Trump has not responded positively to Barr’s “dereturn”, but still “perseveres” in his routine operation – constantly tweeting, accusing “election fraud”. It’s just that his tweets soon officially labeled “controversial”.
In his first televised interview after the election on Sunday, Trump also reiterated that he would continue to challenge the election results through legal channels, and said that his decision “will not change for six months”.
Trump chose to ignore Barr’s defection, but his lawyer Giuliani and the campaign could not swallow it. He immediately issued a harsh statement, opening with all due respect, there is no sign of any investigation by the Department of Justice.
“We have gathered enough evidence that at least six states voted unfairly… Many of our witnesses swore they saw crimes related to election fraud, but to our knowledge, no one has been investigated, the Department of Justice has not investigated any voting machines, nor has the subpoena power to find out. The truth.” It reads in the statement.
Unable to bear the responsibility
What kind of considerations did Barr make such remarks at this time and what kind of signals did he send?
In response, Xiao He, an associate researcher at the Institute of World Economy and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that continuing to support Trump is too risky and too expensive for Barr.
“Although Barr, as the U.S. Attorney General, can also make some online or verbal statements like ordinary Republican senators or political advisers to the White House, if it is to be implemented as a judicial investigation or even an allegation of election fraud, Barr must weigh the importance. Unlike expressing opinions, it is necessary to use the administrative force of the Ministry of Justice to initiate legal action. If there is no real evidence in the legal sense, act rashly, and the responsibility for whatever the consequences lies with Barr alone, not Trump. If he does not act properly, Barr may even face prison for interfering in the administration of justice or illegal administration. Shaw River further explained, “It is not difficult to understand Barr’s ‘mutant’ because he can’t shoulder this responsibility and knows that he can’t invest too much in Trump. Otherwise, the serious consequences can only be borne by him, and Trump himself does not need such concerns, which makes it impossible for him to make decisions easily.”
Western media have also interpreted this.
The Hill reported that this was the first time that Barr commented on the fairness of the election. He used to be one of Trump’s closest allies, and before the election he criticized mail-in ballots as possible “fraud”. His speech this time can be said to be a “draconian accusation” of Trump.
The Associated Press said that Barr’s remarks were direct (slapping in the face) to Trump. The BBC believes that this is a signal that Republicans, especially dignitaries in the Trump administration, are gradually distancing from Trump.
A bigger blow may be ahead.
“Not only Barr, but also there are also people who are eager to ‘disconnect with the relationship’.” Xiao He believes.
Trump’s “election fraud” lawsuit has been rejected one after another recently. According to NBC, due to the lack of reliable evidence, at least 27 of at least 44 lawsuits filed by Trump in the states had failed as of December 1, and the remaining lawsuits were still pending.
Some Republican governors have also expressed impatient with Trump’s accusations.
After confirming that Biden won by 12,000 votes in Georgia, Trump pressured the state’s governor, Republican Brian Kemp, to overturn the election results, but Kemp let him down. Just last week, Kemp refused Trump’s request.
And in the face of Trump’s allegations of “election fraud”, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, simply made it clear that the election process was “very safe” and proud of the state’s election system.
Although the “unyielding” Trump still insists on going the lawsuit to the end, as these states complete the certification of election results, Trump’s hope of “turning over” is little left.
Barr is likely to be “fired” by Trump. Many American netizens are guessing: Is the biggest suspense one day later or two days later?
There is also an almost certain point that Barr will never be the last “close comrade-in-arms” to abandon Trump.
