The problem with Trump's new claim about the Pennsylvania election

A few weeks ago, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance appeared on “Meet the Press” and heard a good question that all too often goes unasked. “Why is Donald Trump sowing doubt about the election before it even happened?” asked NBC News' Kristen Welker.

“I don’t think Donald Trump does that, Kristen,” the Ohio senator replied.

That's definitely what the former president is doing. Consider this article the Republican candidate posted on his social media platform over the weekend:

Sure, it's nothing new for Trump to post strange election-related claims online, but what struck me as odd about this one was the fact that it's literally impossible.

The first ballots for 2024 were mailed to voters in Pennsylvania late last week. The former president wanted Americans to believe not only that the ballots were returned within a day, but also that an “election expert” had already determined that one in five the unopened and unprocessed Postal votes are “fraudulent in nature.”

In other words, Trump wants the FBI, federal prosecutors, the Republican National Committee and state Republicans to step in and respond to a bizarre claim that can't possibly be true.

So much for the assumption that the former president did not cast doubt on the election before it even took place.

But if you step back, the problem is not just that Trump is undermining confidence in the election based on obvious nonsense. Making matters significantly worse is the Republican's announcement that he will sentence anyone involved in the election – from poll workers to lawyers to donors – whom he suspects of “unscrupulous behavior” to “lengthy prison terms.”

In other words, one is tempted to dismiss the Republican candidate's ridiculous claims, but his radical vision and authoritarian threats make this impossible.