Strategist claims on MSNBC that Trump supporters will 'violently disrupt' election counts
Former Romney campaign strategist Stuart Stevens claimed on MSNBC Tuesday that Trump poll watch volunteers will 'violently disrupt' vote counting centers.
Anti-Trump political strategist Stuart Stevens argued Tuesday that the former president's supporters will resort to violence to ensure Trump retakes the White House.
On Tuesday, a panel on MSNBC spoke about how the Trump campaign had told NBC that its election integrity program has "recruited over 200,000 volunteers to Protect the Vote — these patriots have volunteered their time to bring transparency and accountability to our election process." MSNBC host Chris Jansing argued that conflicts in 2020 may foretell future political conflict, recalling when Trump supporters had concerns about election fraud in multiple cities amid record levels of mail-in voting and absentee ballots.
Stevens, a former Mitt Romney campaign strategist who is now a vehement critic of the Republican Party, was asked whether he sees potential for "havoc" as the 2024 election looms.
Former Romney campaign strategist Stuart Stevens warned Trump supporters would resort to violence to steal the election. (MSNBC)
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"Look, this is 100% about race. Let’s don’t [sic] pretend it’s anything else," he claimed. "It has been from the beginning. Where are all these suspect votes? Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta. What do they have in common? High percentage of African American voters. Those that voted not to certify those elections were basically trying to disenfranchise millions and millions of Black voters. It’s that simple."
The strategist then evoked images from American segregation, arguing that Republicans, unable to win the election fairly, will resort to violence,
"You know, they can’t stop Blacks from voting anymore the way they did in the ’60s with the same kind of success, though with these voter challenges they’re going to try," he said. "And I think what is really to fear here is put yourself in the mindset that if the Trump campaign really doesn’t think it can win, either the popular vote or Electoral College. You look at this campaign, it makes no sense. He’s not trying to add voters. What they want to do is they want to win the election night until the inauguration. And if they can go in, and they can violently disrupt these counting centers, how will states be able to certify elections? You burn down a county center in Arizona, how does the governor certify those elections? What world are we in then?"
Former President Trump speaks at a campaign town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center & Fairgrounds, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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He stood by his grim claim, "I think that we really have to anticipate that, think about it. One of the great ridiculousness about this big lie campaign is there was not one Secretary of State in America, the majority of whom were Republicans, who said that the election in their state was anything short of, by the standard rules, fair and free. But that didn’t stop Trump."
Fox News Digital contacted the Trump campaign for a response and did not receive an immediate reply.
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Fox News' Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.
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