When Bernie Sanders talks about a “rigged” political system, he means that the system is subject to undue influence by wealthy donors. The remedy for this is the “revolution;” a movement for and by disillusioned poor and middle-class people to change the Constitution, to vote out the agents of the plutocrats, and to create a larger welfare state. As I’ve noted on many occasions, this view of the political process is impractical, flawed, and simplistic, but at least it has the merit of being logically consistent.
Trump stole the word “rigged” from Sanders in an effort to appeal to his voters. Being a plutocrat himself, he can’t possibly object to the impact of money on the system, so what does he mean by “rigged?” Here are some possibilities, and my reactions:
- In the most narrow, literal sense, it is impossible for anyone to “rig” a Presidential election, which is run by thousands of state and local officials, a majority of whom are probably Republicans, even in swing states.
- It is an article of faith among Reactionaries that they represent a majority of the American people, and that their losses in elections must therefore be attributable to voter fraud–hence, the GOP’s emphasis on voter fraud legislation. There is not a shred of evidence for this, but Reactionaries don’t believe in letting the facts get in the way of a good story. It is possible, therefore, that Trump thinks that the federal judiciary is “rigging” the election by striking down voter exclusion laws.
- Trump complains constantly that the MSM and the establishments of both parties treat him unfairly. In other words, he wants the benefits of being an “outsider,” but he doesn’t think the “insiders” have a right to fight back. In the final analysis, I suspect that is what he means by a “rigged” election: one in which the public is misled to vote against him by the corrupt entrenched powers and the liberal MSM.