Trump’s Version of Poll Watching Sounds Like Thuggery

Over the past four years, a familiar refrain has emerged among President Donald Trump’s critics: “If this were happening in a foreign country, the United States government would condemn it.” It’s used to call attention to actions by the president that would alarm Americans if we were observing them in, say, Belarus, Burundi, or Brazil, but are gradually being normalized here. The appointment of Trump family members to White House “advisory” roles, Trump’s refusal to divest himself of businesses that receive money from U.S. taxpayers and foreign dignitaries, and his unwillingness to condemn his most violent, anti-democratic supporters—all of these fit the bill. Still more ominous is his call for his supporters to serve as self-appointed poll watchers.

At last week’s presidential debate, the moderator, Chris Wallace, asked Trump, “Will you urge your supporters” “I’m urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully … I am urging them to do it,” he said. That answer was deeply alarming.