'Very concerned': Analyst predicts dangers of election deniers leading 17 states

During Monday's episode of MSNBC's Deadline: White House, host Nicolle Wallace spoke with national security analyst Mary McCord about a new report finding that seventeen states are led by election deniers.

Wallace notes, "A new report by States United Democracy Center finds that inside state legislatures across the country, election deniers are using their power to weaken free and fair elections."

The report states:

Nine states have pulled out of the Electronic Registration Information Center, a partnership that helps make sure voter rolls are accurate. It was widely celebrated as a bipartisan success until it was targeted by Election Deniers spreading misinformation, leaving elections in their states less secure.

In other states, Election Deniers have moved to restrict donations to support election funding, hampering election officers that are already dealing with an onslaught of threats and conspiracy theories.

Election Deniers who hold office are also creating or expanding special units to prosecute election crimes, including voter fraud, which is practically nonexistent. These steps may look like legitimate law enforcement, but they are more about scaring voters and keeping election lies alive.

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Wallace said, "Mary McCord, this feels like one of the most dangerous Big Lie stories I've covered on this show. Tell me your reaction to this report."

McCord replied, "I think it was really sort of a red flag to say all those things we were worried about in 2020 and we were worried about before the midterms in '22 when so many election deniers were running for office, don't feel like it's over because even though many of those election deniers, particularly in the swing states, lost those elections, the threat did not dissipate. And we already had election deniers in office in many states, as indicated by the map you just showed. We also have a number of them in Congress as I'm sure Congress member [Eric] Swalwell (D-CA) can speak to."

She continued, "But I think the other thing that's so dangerous about this is election denialism is really a core piece — the core piece of the fraud narrative that has driven violence many, many places across this country and most, you know, obviously the January 6th insurrection, the attack on the Capitol. Without election denialism, without lies about election fraud and a rigged election, without the lies suggesting that Donald Trump actually won that election, there would not have been an insurrection. So, election denialism, even though 2020 is over, we have 2024 already just right in front of us, and an expansion rather than a retraction of election denialism at least in some quarters. So, I think the narrative there is what we need to worry about, because that narrative provides the justification for people to engage in acts of political violence. And that's where we need to be very, very concerned."

Watch the video below or at this link.

Without election denialism there would have been no insurrection: analystyoutu.be

READ MORE: 'Election denier' GA state senator will keep role despite indictment alongside Trump: report

States United Democracy Center's full report is available at this link.