Trump Really, Really Doesn’t Want More People to Vote in Pennsylvania

The state just approved one of the best tools for fighting voter suppression. Trump blew a gasket.

Former US President Donald J. Trump offers remarks during the Pray Vote Stand Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.Rod Lamkey/CNP/Zuma

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

In an era of mounting threats to free and fair elections ginned up by Republicans, voting rights experts agree that automatic voter registration is one of the best ways to expand access to the ballot. So when Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state, enacted the program last week, Republicans pounced, claiming that it would prompt a surge in “thoughtless and even accidental registration.” 

The assertion, of course, is not based in fact. But now Donald Trump has joined the chorus with an especially panicked message.

“THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO STEAL PENNSYLVANIA AGAIN BY DOING THE ‘AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION’ SCAM,” the former president bellowed on Truth Social. “THEY NEVER STOP. OBAMA AND HIS RADICAL LEFT THUGS ARE PUSHING THIS.” The all-caps rant continued, featuring demands for “disaster” Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy to take action.

Republican opposition to automatic voter registration is nothing new. McConnell himself has all but admitted that the GOP loses when more people vote. But Trump’s anxiety over Pennsylvania, which will automatically register eligible voters when they go to get their driver’s license or state ID, is particularly fraught. After the 2020 election, Trump and his allies pounded the key swing state, where Joe Biden won by 80,555 votes, with false claims of voter fraud as they attempted to overturn the results. Pennsylvania, where the infamous Four Seasons Landscaping debacle unfolded, is even mentioned a staggering 20 times in the special counsel’s 45-page indictment charging Trump with various efforts to defraud the United States and obstruct official proceedings.

Most people would probably drop the voter fraud nonsense in the face of such legal peril. But not Trump, a man clearly determined to repeat the greatest hits of false narratives as we careen toward another razor-close rematch. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, more than 10.3 million residents eligible to vote now have a far easier way of registering.

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate