Russia, If You’re Listening

Donald Trump still refuses to accept the result of the last US presidential election. Now he’s on the ballot again, and in his campaign against Kamala Harris he’s calling on his supporters to make the race ‘too big to rig’. In America’s Last Election from If You’re Listening, Matt Bevan leaves his basement and heads to the US, examining the chaotic aftermath of the 2020 election and what it means for the vote this November. In 2020, the world watched as Donald Trump refused to accept the result. Trump’s claims the election was stolen led to the January 6 riot, where thousands of people stormed the United States Capitol Building in Washington DC, in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s win. But the effects of the chaotic events of those 64 days between the US presidential election and the attacks on January 6, they aren’t in the past. They’re shaping US politics right now, as America goes to the polls again. What can the aftermath of that election tell us about what happens next? There’s every sign that if the 2024 US presidential election is close, Donald Trump and the people around him will use a similar playbook to the one they used in 2020. While that plan was concocted on the fly, this time around they have spent four years thinking about little else, and election denial now plays a role in Republican party strategy. Trump rallies can be roused with cries of ‘too big to rig’, encouraging supporters to turn up to vote, so that the Democrats can’t ‘steal’ the election. People like once top-Trump Advisor, now-podcaster Steve Bannon, former CIA contractor Dennis Montgomery, and retired Air Force General Thomas McInerney, all contributed to a belief among MAGA supporters that the 2020 election was stolen, amplifying a conspiracy theory about a supercomputer called The Hammer and software called Scorecard that could change votes from Republican to Democrat on the fly. This is a series from the podcast If You’re Listening, where each week Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes. Previous series have focused on the United Kingdom’s 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia, Donald Trump’s presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin’s scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia’s turbulent history with climate change. Recent episodes have taken a look at AI, Sam Altman and Elon Musk, Russian propaganda in the United States, the war in Ukraine, the Saudi Arabian project NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, and the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. There’s a new episode of If You’re Listening every Thursday.