It was an exchange that highlighted how Republicans, with doubts about the 2020 election, are organizing to take control of the election mechanism – how ballots are cast and counted. And when Trump took the stage Saturday night, his first visit to Michigan since 2020, he focused on that as well. He was there to campaign for two little-known candidates seeking positions that have significant power over voting rules in Michigan, one of the most important battlefield states in the presidential election. Trump has been targeting Matthew DePerno, the GOP nominee for attorney general, and Christina Caramo, a Republican who is running for secretary of state in Michigan. Both are seeking to win the Republican nomination at the state convention this month. Neither has previous political experience, and their political rise stems almost entirely from their efforts to spread misinformation about the 2020 election. Joe Biden defeated Trump in the state by just over 154,000 votes in 2020 and Trump’s efforts to reject the election. If Caramo and DePerno are elected this fall, he would put two of Trump’s allies in key positions from which they could possibly do what he could not do in 2020: overturn an election result. “Remember, this is not just 2022, this is to ensure that Michigan is not set up and stolen in 2024,” Trump said in a forty-five-minute speech in which he repeatedly falsely claimed that Michigan had won. in 2020. “I have to be honest, I do not do it often for statesmen, that’s so important. “What happened in Michigan is a shame.” Little MAGA Warriors and Finishing Jobs Christina Caramo, Republican nominee for Michigan Secretary of State Karamo is a part-time community college teacher who became famous in Republican circles after claiming to have witnessed election fraud while watching the ballot count in Detroit. These allegations have been refuted, but it has nevertheless been launched on the Republican front in the race for Secretary of State. He ran in the failed Michigan 2020 election from certification and tried to intervene in an unsuccessful attempt in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn election results in key states. He called the public schools “government catechism camps” and suggested that those who attacked the US capital on January 6 were contradictory. He called the crowd at the Michigan Stars Sports Center crowded Saturday night, calling Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat currently serving as secretary of state, “an authoritarian leftist who treats the Michigan people as unwashed masses.” . “There is an army of people across our state that is counterattacking. “Little MAGA warriors and we’re done,” he said, using the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again.” Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Benson said Michigan was “zero” in the fight for American democracy. He said Trump was seeking to bring to power loyalists who may succumb to future calls for elections. “We have also fought against election losers, some of whom now want to take office across the state, so that they may be able to block or undo or fail to certify the election results they disagree with in the future. “This is just what is at stake this fall,” he said. Christina Caramo is running for the Michigan Republican Party nomination for secretary of state. Photo: Junfu Han / AP DePerno became known last year as he spread false allegations of fraud in Antrim County, northern Michigan, where an official made a mistake on election night and posted false numbers that initially indicated Biden was ahead. DePerno filed a lawsuit against the county and spread false information suggesting that the vote could have changed. A government review and separate investigation of the incident under the leadership of the GOP found no evidence of fraud and was relentless in its criticism of DePerno. “We will no longer allow the elites in this country to control our elections and control us,” DePerno said on Saturday. He has pledged to arrest Benson and Dana Nessel, the current Democratic attorney general. “[Trump] “He wants people to manipulate the 2024 election in his favor,” Nessel told the Guardian on Friday. “Only a few years ago, they would be seen as extreme, marginal candidates who would never have received any traction in the Republican Party. “And now, they are emblematic of the Republican Party.” Outside the rally, a soundtrack of songs that have become essentially Trump’s rallies – including Elton John’s Tiny Dancer – erupted while some people were playing cornoli. Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, received a thunderous applause when he appeared for a while. The most prominent negotiators were those who tried to persuade rally participants to sign a petition for a vote to “despair” the results of the 2020 Michigan election, which is not legally possible. Organizers hoped to collect 10,000 signatures at Trump’s rally on Saturday, said Janice Daniels, the former mayor of the district that participated in the campaign, which was collecting signatures on Saturday. He said he was not moved by the broad legal agreement that the 2020 election could not be undone and by several criticisms of Michigan that confirmed the outcome of the 2020 election. Supporters wait in line before the rally. Photo: Junfu Han / AP “This is what the enemies are saying. “They want to discourage you from doing what is right and good and what is possible,” he said. “Emergency problems require excellent solutions. “We are in an extraordinary environment where we had a coup that took over our entire government.” However, some people at the rally acknowledged that ratifying the election was not really a possibility. “I do not think it is possible, but it should have been done. “It’s a complete deal,” said Diane Zechmeister, 67. Zechmeister said she did not closely monitor the administration of the 2020 election, “when things went awry.” A friend who attended, Carol Fischer, 68, said nothing could convince her that the results of the 2020 election were accurate. “I will never believe it,” he said. Several polls from the 2020 election have shown that many Republicans continue to believe that Trump has won. Greg Taylor, 38, was also in line early in the rally to ensure he had a place inside. Even when state officials and Republican lawmakers in Michigan conducted several audits and reports that debunked conspiracies in Michigan, Taylor could think of nothing to convince him that the election results were accurate. “It simply came to our notice then. “I really can’t see that,” he said. “The only way we could know is, I guess, through control I guess. But who knows about the control? “It’s so hard to trust anyone. “I do not trust any side,” he said. Tyler Griffin, who was waiting in line wearing an oversized red cowboy hat, also said that nothing could convince him to accept the 2020 results. “I looked at all the numbers and they do not add up.” Not everyone at the rally was excited about Trump’s continued focus on the election. Howard, an early ally who was approached for being an election worker, said he hoped Trump would leave the 2020 election in the past. “I hope he leaves it somehow,” he said. “I know he will not do it, but I hope he does.”
