U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he walks to board Air Force One while departing for Florida from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., November 7, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
When President Donald Trump tried to overturn the United States' 2020 election results, the pushback came not only from Democrats, but also, from some right-wing Republicans — including then-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), then-Vice President Mike Pence, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Then-U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr resigned, refusing to go along with Trump.
Hardcore MAGA election deniers, however, promoted the repeatedly debunked claim that the election was stolen from Trump — a group ranging from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to attorney Sidney Powell.
Those election deniers and conspiracy theorists drew a lot of criticism from traditional non-MAGA conservatives, especially Never Trumpers who supported Joe Biden.
But The Guardian's Rachel Leingang, in an article published on November 29, warns that many of 2020's election deniers are being appointed to prominent positions during Trump's second presidency.
"The people who tried to overturn the 2020 election have more power than ever — and they plan to use it," Leingang reports. "Bolstered by the president, they have prominent roles in key parts of the federal government. Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who helped advance Donald Trump's claims of a stolen election in 2020, now leads the civil rights division of the Justice Department."
Leingang continues, "An election denier, Heather Honey, now serves as the deputy assistant secretary for election integrity in the Department of Homeland Security. Kurt Olsen, an attorney involved in the 'Stop the Steal' movement, is now a special government employee investigating the 2020 election. A movement that once pressured elected officials to bend to its whims is now part of the government."
Trump critics interviewed by The Guardian find these appointments troubling.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, told The Guardian, "The federal government is no longer a trusted partner in democracy."
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, also a Democrat, told The Guardian, "There would have to be a significant shift in the rhetoric and the attitude coming out of senior leadership in the administration before I open my door and say, 'Yeah, you guys, come on in.' It'd be foolish of me to let the fox into the hen house."
Samantha Tarazi, co-founder and CEO of the Voting Rights Lab, told The Guardian, "In the ways that you're seeing more high-profile election deniers in positions in the federal government, you have to also keep in mind that the benches are currently also being stacked at the more grassroots level — in county boards and state boards of elections, for example."
Read Rachel Leingang's full article for The Guardian at this link.