Recently, a slew of Hollywood celebrities have spread a false claim that former President Donald Trump would outlaw elections if he returns to the White House for a second term. Substantiating their fictitious assertions, the famed figures have shared a video showing a recent Trump speech encouraging Christians to vote in the election.
However, the short clip was cut, removing important context as to what Trump was discussing in relation to the election. “Four years, it will be fixed, it will be fine. “You won’t have to vote anymore. In four years, you won’t have to vote again,” Trump said to an audience of supporters at Turning Point Action’s Believers’ Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The celebrities have taken the statement out of context to suggest that Trump is advocating to outright ban elections in the United States, furthering the ongoing narrative from Democrats that the former president is an existential threat to Democracy. However, when given the full context of the speech, it is clear that Trump was urging the crowd to vote in such numbers that the election would be a “landslide that’s too big to rig.”
An outspoken critic of Donald Trump, Rob Reiner, used the clip as an opportunity to endorse Kamala Harris and assert there is a threat to Democracy. He wrote on X, “There it is! Donald Trump told a gathering of Christians that if they voted for him this time, he’d fix it so they’d never have to vote again. He point blank said he will destroy our Democracy. Keep 250 years of Self Rule alive. VOTE KAMALA!!!”
Mia Farrow echoed a similar sentiment, writing, “Here it is, America. We are warned. This guy and his inner circle intend to seize power -and keep it. Say a clear ‘ NO’ with your vote.” Staunch Trump opponent Barbra Streisand posted, “Trump Tells Christians ‘You Won’t Have to Vote Anymore’ If He’s Elected – The New York Times.”
Writer and director Scott Derrickson interpreted Trump’s speech to indicate that the former president would become a “dictator.” He wrote, “Trump telling Christians he will fix the government so that, once in power, he will be a dictator who will not allow free elections. He will remain in power until he dies. He’s a fascist who intends to topple our democracy by promising Christians he’s got their back.”
Looking at Trump’s speech holistically, the Republican presidential candidate was discussing laws his administration would pass to fortify elections, implementing measures such as voter ID requirements and other reforms, that would prevent the need for a massive turnout to counteract alleged fraud in the presidential election.
Watch the Trump speech that has Hollywood in a panic below:
Trump said, “I will secure our elections. Our goal will be, as I said, one day voting with paper ballots, proof of citizenship, and a thing called voter ID. (Applause) You know, when you negotiate and I do that with the Democrats and I negotiate with them all the time on this. I say, look, we’re going to fix our laws with voting, we have to start with voter ID. Everybody has to — “No way!” — the discussion never even goes any further.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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