On Tuesday, Katie Miller — a die-hard MAGA loyalist who happens to be married to President Donald Trump’s senior policy advisor Stephen Miller — attempted to whip up online fury over an Election Day conspiracy theory, only to have it debunked in real time. While Miller was adamant that a social media post by a voter in New York suggested there was foul play afoot, a journalist immediately blew up her claims.
Miller reshared a post by a voter in New York, which said, “I just went to vote in Westchester & machines are apparently broken county wide. They said choice is vote absentee or come back later. This is going to be crazy. Our country is in trouble.” Miller jumped in to fan the flames of election denial, claiming, “This is how the Left steals elections. Mike Lawler’s competitive district and they are turning away voters.” But Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith pointed out a clear problem with her theory: “This is the Democratic part of the district."
“It’s across the entire county for ballots ordered months ago,” Miller pushed, to which Smith replied, “Right — Westchester is the diverse/inner suburb/blue part of this Hudson Valley district that extends north and west. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) being normal/non-conspiratorial and encouraging everyone to stay and vote in the more Democratic part of the district is I think confusing people on this platform.”
As Smith suggested, Lawler had taken note of the issue earlier, offering reasonable advice: “There is a problem with every ballot scanner in Westchester County. We do not yet know the exact cause of the issue, whether it is the ballot or the machine. The Board of Elections is working with their vendors to resolve it. However, every ballot will be counted. Stay on line and vote. Do not leave the polling place without voting.” Lawler – who is typically viewed as a MAGA loyalist and is running a tight race against Democrat Cait Conley – later added, “Every ballot will be counted and we are already in court to make sure they are counted in **one central location** so that our campaign, election monitors, and our attorneys can watch and oversee the process. I have confidence that every vote will be counted — just VOTE and have your voice heard.”
While Miller continued to assert that Westchester County “typically leans about 10-15 points more Republican,” demographic data shows that it in fact leans Democrat by 26 points. The original poster took note of this fact as well. “Does this ever happen in blue counties?” asked an account called Moms x5 on the Right. “This is a blue county,” noted the poster, who in other comments appeared to push back on the controversy that flared up, likely because of Miller’s repost. “I will go back later [and] vote any way that I can.”
