Trump has been threatening for weeks to call for a recount in Wisconsin, citing baseless conspiracy theories and ridiculous claims. On Wednesday, Trump carried through on his threat. Sort of. His campaign filed for a partial recount, targeting only two counties, citing the same silliness:
The recount petition, signed by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Monday, alleges "mistakes and fraud" were committed all over Wisconsin but particularly in Madison and Milwaukee, cities with large numbers of voters for Biden. The petition does not provide specific examples of mistakes or fraud.
Trump claims his campaign's observers at Milwaukee’s central counting facility were required to stay 30 to 35 feet away from tables where ballots were being counted and that once his observers are closer to the counting, mistakes and fraud will be found.
Everyone knows that a recount is bound to fail because Biden leads by more than 20,000 votes. Hell, even former governor Scott Walker said it's going to fail, and Walker could be the only person in a room and still not be the smartest one there.
But Trump isn't really looking to win a recount. He is doing this for three primary reasons:
- To raise as much money as he can to help pay off his campaign debt
- To bog down the election process and cast further doubt on its integrity
- Because a large number of people of color voted
The last point is self-evident that Trump decided to only target Milwaukee and Dane Counties, which are the two strongest Democratic bastions, have the largest population and the largest number of Black and Latino people.
It didn't take long for Democratic leaders to call out the Trump campaign on this fact, but was best said by the City of Milwaukee Common Council in their press release:
The Trump Campaign is seeking a recount of the votes cast in Milwaukee and Dane counties on November 3rd, in what is a clear attempt to somehow cast doubt on the outcome of the election in Wisconsin by looking for evidence of non-existent voter fraud.
The recount, focused on Wisconsin’s most diverse counties where by far the state’s largest populations of Black and brown people reside, is not only without merit, it is RACIST and despicable!
We expect the recount to find no significant issues nor anything that will change the vote totals in any major way.
To seek to delegitimize and disenfranchise voters after a clear and sizable election result (where you lost fair and square, Mr. President) is, in our view, purely evil.
