Election denialism losing steam as Trump flip flops on accepting midterm results

The day after Democrats won sweeping victories in the midterm elections, an Arizona county official delivered a stark warning to his fellow Republicans about election denialism — it needed to stop. The state has been a hotbed of election fraud conspiracy theories. After President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, state lawmakers even pursued an audit in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, that found no evidence of fraud. “To my fellow Republicans who have been trafficking in these lies for the last six years, you need to stop,” Maricopa County Supervisor Thomas Galvin said at a county Board of Supervisors meeting. As Republicans grasp for answers following their stunning losses, election officials, voting rights advocates and researchers are watching to see whether Trump will lead the party toward false narratives around election fraud or to accept normal explanations, such as voter dissatisfaction and poor campaign messages.

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