Breathless media coverage of election lawsuits plays right into Trump’s plan | Opinion

6 min readNov 10, 2020

The news media should stop amplifying President Donald Trump’s numerous post-election lawsuits — at least until a judge rules that any of them have merit. The true goal of these cases is to undermine the integrity of the election and sow discord and distrust. Giving these challenges significant airtime simply plays into the that dangerous narrative.

“Trump’s lawsuits are getting mixed results,” read one headline last week. “Trump campaign brings legal challenges in several battleground states with success in 1 suit” said another. And cable television is covering these cases to fill the time. But discussing them as if they have any credibility whatsoever can lead people to improperly question the validity of the vote casting and counting process, which has shown a decisive win for President-Elect Joe Biden.

Trump has filed suits in at least Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada. More are promised. Some involve minor issues about observing the vote count. Others are about very small numbers of absentee ballots that, given the vote margins, will not make a difference in the final result. His campaign has asked a federal court to delay the certification of Pennsylvania’s results, a brazen move to question the validity of Biden’s 45,000-vote lead. The lawsuit, which attacks numerous aspects of Pennsylvania’s election process, does not have any serious legal arguments and we shouldn’t treat it as such — beyond noting that it’s a blatant attack on our democracy.

Besides securing an order to let the campaigns observe the vote counting process from a safe distance, none of the lawsuits so far have any merit. None will make a difference in the ultimate outcome of the presidential election. Recall that the Florida 2000 dispute involved a lead of 537 votes out of millions cast. No states are even close to that number. There’s also zero evidence of voter fraud. No one is trying to count “illegal” votes, and even making the suggestion can make people think otherwise. We should not be talking about these cases as if they have any possibility to change the outcome — so long as the rule of law prevails. They don’t.

The real goal of this flurry of lawsuits is to undermine people’s faith in the integrity of the election process. Trump has told us for months — years, in fact — that he would not accept a defeat and would blame it on unspecified voter fraud. These lawsuits are intended to continue that narrative, as well as to raise money to retire Trump’s campaign debt. Let’s ignore them, at least until a judge finds that any of them have any force.

Trump also said we should “stop the count.” But that’s not a legal argument. Election officials always count ballots after Election Day. That’s a normal and legal part of the process. His arguments are also all over the place: stop the count in places where he is ahead but continue the count where he is behind. Declare a winner on Election Night but no, wait until the electors meet on December 14. He and his surrogates — including top members of the Republican Party such as Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Senator Lindsey Graham — claim unspecified fraud without evidence. Filing lawsuits — and then reporting on them as if they have any validity — gives credence to those unfounded claims. Cable news should not book guests who will spread these lies and journalists should not report on them, beyond to debunk their falsehoods.

Imagine if a baseball team were down 10–5 going into the 9th inning, and then it sought to protest the game because it thinks the umpire missed a strike call in the 2nd inning. The argument would have no force. We wouldn’t report on the game as if the losing team might suddenly win because of the protest.

Let’s call it what it is — a futile attempt to change the outcome and a blatant maneuver to divide the country and undermine people’s faith in the election. Any other message from the media merely plays into Trump’s hands.

How about we ignore it all and instead focus on the heroic work of election officials to finish the count in a transparent, fair, and legal way? In addition to President-Elect Biden’s win, that’s the story of this election.

Perhaps it’s ironic to write about these lawsuits in an effort to minimize their coverage. That’s a fair point. But hopefully a full recognition of the danger of that coverage will lead journalists and the general public to take a step back and see them for what they are: a last-ditch attempt to make up stories of “fraud” to justify an election loss.

Treating them as real news without proper context about their baselessness just adds fuel to the fire.

Breathless media coverage of election lawsuits plays right into Trump’s plan | Opinion

Written by Camhutrinjo