Election deniers believe Venezuela’s attack is about 2020

Election deniers and MAGA influencers We are confident that the US will be captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Nothing to do with it oil Or drug trafficking. Instead, they are certain that it is all linked to baseless allegations made by the Venezuelan government. Fraud the 2020 elections In favor of former President Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump and his administration appear to have reinforced these conspiracy theories.

In the days following Maduro’s arrest on January 3, Trump subscriber A wave From posts on his Truth Social platform about election fraud, including Those related to Dominion Voting Systems. Other MAGA influencers posted about Smartmatic, another election company.

both of them Dominion Smartmatic, the companies that make voting machines and the software that runs on them, became central targets of disinformation campaigns after the 2020 election, as election deniers claimed the machines were part of a supposed conspiracy to elect Biden. These claims have been consistently refuted: In 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion nearly $800 million to settle a defamation lawsuit over Fox’s claims about Dominion’s voting machines.

But online, conspiracy theories about these voting companies have returned, with election deniers and MAGA loyalists claiming that Venezuela’s government conspired with Smartmatic to steal the election. Some conspiracy theorists claim this is partly why the United States had to invade Venezuela.

QAnon influencer Chad Vivas, who was Pictured with Trump in the pasttagged a post from Trump on January 3 about Dominion, writing: “Do you think the timing is a coincidence? A Venezuelan military intelligence whistleblower has confirmed that the CIA is outsourcing election fraud technology like Smartmatic and Dominion from Venezuela.”

Trump later Screenshot shared Vivas’ X post on Truth Social. “Confirmation from the President,” Vivas wrote in response.

“It would be crazy when Maduro tries to push lesser charges by presenting evidence that the 2020 election was stolen,” Sean Davis, CEO of the conservative Federalist magazine, wrote on X. In response, Ed Martin, A Pardon lawyer At the Justice Department, they responded by quoting Davis’ post and adding an exclamation mark. “Drugs may be an issue in catching Maduro, but I think the real reason is that Venezuela was being used to launder election-rigging technology by the deep state,” Jordan Sather, a prominent QAnon promoter, wrote on his Telegram channel.

The White House did not respond to questions about whether the alleged election fraud factored into the decision to invade Venezuela.

In the days and weeks after the 2020 election, Trump and his legal team pushed wild conspiracy theories in an attempt to overturn the voting results, even though Trump officials at the time said the election was The safest in history.

This charge was led by Sidney Powell, one of Trump’s lawyers who was among the first to push allegations about Venezuela’s involvement. In November 2020, Powell was cited Anonymous and unconfirmed statements From a former Venezuelan military official to claim that the voting company Smartmatic helped the Venezuelan government manipulate elections in that country, while suggesting that the company did something similar to help Biden win.

In recent days, Powell has celebrated Trump’s actions in Venezuela and promoted claims that Venezuela was behind unproven voter fraud in 2020, including an X post from Emerald Robinson, who hosts a show on LindellTV, a live streaming platform owned by election denier Mike Lindell.

Robinson has consistently promoted Venezuela’s electoral conspiracy theory. This week, Robinson claimed she was targeted for pushing the claims, along with Powell, Lindell and Rudy Giuliani, all of whom also claimed the 2020 election was rigged.