The first Republican presidential primary debate, hosted Wednesday by Fox News Channel and moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, failed to address the issue of election integrity. But, former President Donald Trump says he'll "proudly be arrested" for doing so.
Conservative voters, pundits and politicians expressed disappointment and disenfranchisement over the omission of the topic, including former Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake, who questioned how election issues can be resolved without discussing election integrity.
Lake’s sentiments reflect those of many voters. A recent poll conducted by the Honest Elections Project, revealed that a significant majority of U.S. voters - including Black and Hispanic voters - support measures such as voter ID requirements and limitations on mail-in voting.
A poll by the Honest Elections Project found that nine in ten (88%) of U.S. voters - including Black and Hispanic voters - support measures to improve election integrity, such as voter ID requirements and limitations on mail-in voting.
The poll also highlighted the prevailing preference for in-person voting over mailed-in ballots, with three-fourths of voters stating their preference for the former. Furthermore, there was overwhelming opposition (89%) to the idea of noncitizens voting in U.S. elections, underscoring the significance of election integrity as a pressing concern. Likewise, 72% said they oppose lowering the voting age to 16.
Other findings highlighting voters’ election concerns include:
- 76% believe “voting in person is better than voting by mail,”
- 73% “reject automatically sending ballots without a voter’s request,”
- 74% think practices such as ballot harvesting “should be illegal.”
- 89% say “every ballot should be received by Election Day.”
In stark contrast to the debate's oversight, former President Donald Trump made a bold statement on his social media platform Truth Social. Trump declared himself to be the foremost advocate for election integrity and pledged his willingness to be arrested for standing up for this cause:
“NOBODY HAS EVER FOUGHT FOR ELECTION INTEGRITY LIKE PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP. FOR DOING SO, I WILL PROUDLY BE ARRESTED TOMORROW AFTERNOON IN GEORGIA. GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!”
Trump will turn himself in at the Fulton County Georgia on Thursday, after District Attorney Fani Willis indicted him, claiming that he tried to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
In her zeal to convict him, Willis leveled a variety of charges with dubious and fanciful relevance to election interference. As Fox News reports:
“The charges include violating the Georgia RICO Act—the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act; Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.”