The Point: How believing the Big Lie has become central to being a Republican

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September 13, 2021 | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski

How believing the Big Lie has become central to being a Republican

There's an interesting nugget buried in the new CNN national poll that shows just how much election denialism has fused with what most people think it means to be a Republican.

Almost 6 in 10 (59%) of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said that "believing that Donald Trump won the 2020 election" was very or somewhat important to what being a Republican meant to them.

While that number was lower than those who said a less powerful federal government was important to what being a Republican means to them (86%) or supporting Republicans in Congress (81%), it's still a remarkably high number when you consider what, exactly, we are talking about here.

And that is this: that, somehow, the 2020 election was fraudulent and Trump actually won. That belief is directly rebutted by widely accepted facts about the 2020 election -- most notably that there is ZERO evidence of widespread voter fraud. None.

The idea, then, that the election was stolen is a wild conspiracy theory. But it's also a wild conspiracy theory that Trump very much continues to push. And that much of the base of the party continues to believe because, well, Trump told them to believe it.

What the poll makes clear, then, is that for a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, believing the Big Lie is an important part of calling oneself a "Republican."

Which is a remarkable thing when you consider that we are talking about one of the two major parties in this country. Sit with that for a minute. One of the two major parties in this country sees its identity entwined with a much-disproven lie that aims to directly undermine the foundations of American democracy.

What's even more amazing is that Republican leaders -- not named Donald Trump -- are either unwilling or incapable of steering the party in another direction.

The Point: This sort of stuff is how parties die in the medium and long term. Or evolve to become something that bears no resemblance to what they once were.

-- Chris

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I think there's a lot of different colleagues of mine that might share different parts of my position in a more private way."

-- Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who's the Senate's key swing vote, said a number of his Democratic colleagues share at least some of his concerns about the scope, price tag and details of the Democrats' massive $3.5 trillion economic package.

MONDAY'S MUST-SEE TWEETS

1. 35% of GOPers say they have no plan to get the 💉

2. A nice 🧵on the future of journalism

3. October 17 is going to be a big day in the Cillizza household

4. ⚾ is just the best

5. I find this giant panther terrifying

CHRIS' GOOD READS

The messaging on vaccine boosters has been, um, all over the map. The latest? A new study reported by The New York Times that shows boosters don't give us any huge, well, boost in avoiding Covid-19.

Every word Stephen Breyer says is dissected for some signal of whether he'll step aside while Joe Biden is President and Democrats control the Senate. He says lots of words in this Wall Street Journal piece.

I didn't need this Washington Post story to believe that "wellness influencers" are terrible. But it sure helped.

I really dug this profile of Michael Wolff by The New York Times' Ben Smith. It gets at the question I, as a reporter, always wonder: Why do people tell us stuff?

Max Scherzer is a damn legend and a first-ballot Hall of Famer. This great Chelsea Janes piece in The Washington Post captures him at the height of his powers.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

I will listen to ANY music Phoebe Bridgers makes. And you should too! This is a new one with the the band Muna called "Silk Chiffon."

-- Chris

CALIFORNIA'S ELECTION DAY IS ALMOST HERE

How many candidates are running in the California gubernatorial recall election? And could a Republican really win such a Democratic-leaning state? Chris explains what's going on.

ONE BIG RETURN

Temporary fencing is set to return around the US Capitol ahead of a planned rally in support of jailed January 6 rioters on Saturday, according to the Capitol Police chief. The fencing will start going up a "day or two" before the event, and if "everything goes well," it will come down "very soon" after, the chief told reporters Monday.

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