Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign communications director states that her team will be on a mission will be to ensure “there are no irregularities” or “fraud.”

Karoline Leavitt claimed on Monday that the Trump campaign would deploy “soldiers” to monitor polling stations

Interesting, because how will soldiers detect irregularities or fraud any better than a person wearing jeans and a button-down shirt? No better. But what they will do better than the guy in jeans is succeed in their real but unstated mission – intimidate, claim “irregularities in polling places predominantly used by black people, and assert fraud based on the number of people voting.

According to Kimberly Guilfoyle, as transcribed by Mediaite:

We have the team. Now, it’s time to deploy the troops on the ground. We have an amazing volunteer-led effort right now in all of the battleground states… We’re not gonna play defense like we unfortunately did in 2020. We’re gonna have soldiers, poll watchers on the ground who are making sure that there are no irregularities and fraud like we saw in the last election cycle.

It makes one utterly sick to tell Kimberly that “defense” is the only acceptable action because there is no “offense” that doesn’t offend the basic right to vote.

According to the same article, Donald Trump has also promised to send sheriffs and police to monitor polling places for irregularities. Again, without any apology, someone must ask, “Under what authority is he sending these law enforcement officers?” Even the president of the United States, never mind an ex-president, doesn’t have the authority to place city, county, or state officials to monitor polling places. Trump also said:

DOJ does have the authority to monitor polling places for irregularities, but they do wear regular clothing, certainly do not carry guns, report to supervisors at DOJ, do not intimidate, and do not serve an agenda for any candidate – they are neutral and not on offense or defense. They also monitor elections under laws passed by Congress and found in the United States Code to ensure everyone has the right to vote. It is the law.

We all know where and why Trump is asking his troops to be on the offensive. Use the Atlanta area as an example. The troops will be deployed in the inner-city areas populated primarily by Black Americans. One will not find AR-15-carrying troops ten miles away in wealthy polling places in Buckhead.

Imagine a long line (They are all long in Democratic areas, as opposed to wealthy counties), a line of primarily Black Americans. Imagine a camo-dressed large citizen-soldier carrying large weapons on public property. Imagine him approaching ten to fifteen Black Americans and saying, “This line is too long. I saw you vote once already, if you vote again, I will report you.”

The fact that this is a lie is irrelevant.

Clearly, this is a violation of voting rights, but just as clearly, there will not be enough poll workers to observe such behavior. How many people will stay in line with that kind of intimidation? The accusation itself is the real issue; it is dangerous, and it’s backed up by someone determined to take votes away from Joe Biden.

Of the ten to fifteen, six leave wanting to avoid trouble, thinking that their few votes won’t make a big difference anyway, not necessarily knowing that the soldier will do the same to twenty other groups and that citizen-soldiers are deployed at fifty other polling places. How many voters will stay home hearing of the threat?

You don’t need to take my word for it. Guilfoyle promises offensive actions, parachute in, high altitude, low opening, “HALO” the vote.

Trump has called 2024 the “Final Battle,” and the violent assertions are fully intended. Two other considerations for you. If 2024 is the “Final Battle,” what does that say about 2028? Irrelevant because they control the military?

The other consideration is that the MAGAs already believe that 2020 was “rigged,” they believe that they are “owed” a win in 2024, rigged in their favor or not, violence needed or not, Russian help with certainty along with the certainty they will win and take the White House.

If it takes AR-15s and troops to “win” an election, so be it – they were prepared anyway.

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Jason Miciak can be reached at [email protected] or on “X” at @JasonMiciak

Miciak is an editor at large for Occupy Democrats who spends time here with friends at Political Flare